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IFARM TALK: 



•*v\- 



A SERIES OF 



ARTICLES IN THE COLLOQUIAL STYLE, 



ILLUSTRATING 



Various Common Farm Topics. 



BY 



GEO. E. BRACKETT, 

BELFAST, MAINE, 



;J 




^- BOSTON: 
LEE AND SHEPARD 

1868. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 

LEE AKD SHEPARD, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



BTEEEOTYPKD AT THE BOSTON 8TEBE0TYPE FOUNDBY, 
No. 19 Spring Lane. 






THIS LITTLE VOLUME 



|t£$^tcctfuUg JtbuateiJ 



MY FRIEND AND FELLOW- LABORER 



S, L, BOARD MAN, 



CONTENTS. 



I. Guess Farming 

II. Pedigree Corn 

III. About Haying. 

IV. Fancy Farmers 

V. When to Sell Produce. 

VI. Butter Making 

VII. Getting Ready for the Cattle Show. 

VIII. Agricultural Colleges. . 

IX. Apple Trees and Insects. . 

X. Middle-INIen 

XI. Taking the Papers. 

XII. The 'Ologies 

XIII. An Evening's Chat. 

XIV. Planting for Posterity. . 

XV. Parasitic Plants 

XVI. Road-Making and Breaking. . 

XVII. In the Barn 

XVIII. How Trees Grow 

XIX. Pigs and Poultry 

XX. Farm Fences 

XXI. Out in the Fields. . . . . 

(7) 



I'AGB 

9 

15 
20 
26 
30 
36 
41 
47 
54 
61 
, 66 
70 

75 
So 
86 
92 

97 
104 
109 

115 
122 




FARM TALK 

I. 

GUESS FARMING. 

E farmers are a stubborn class to 
learn. We do not accept facts with- 
out a good deal of proof and per- 
suasion, and in too many cases work 
out our own injury through a fear of being too 
easily deceived. This is a progressive age, and 
those who allow themselves to fall in the rear 
in the march of improvement must be content 
to occupy second-rate positions, and be satisfied 
with small pecuniary rewards. 

It is somewhat surprising, that, notwith- 
standing the improvements in nearly every de- 
partment of farming, so little has been effected 
towards inducing farmers to perform their busi- 
ness operations in a more systematic manner, and 

(9) 



lo Farm Talk. 

keep a regular record and account of their farm- 
ing and business, generally and specifically. But 
for one farmer who practises such a method, 
ninety-nine keep all their accounts " in their 
head," as it is termed, and consequently are 
properly called guess farmers^ for they never 
know anything, only guess it is so and so. 
They don't know whether this, that, or the other 
crop pays best ; whether they can afford to sell 
their stock or produce at such and sudi a price 
or not. They can't tell whether it is for their 
interest to continue a certain course of husband- 
ry, use such a fertilizer, cultivate a soil in such 
a manner, nor even at the end of the year are 
they sure whether their names should be re- 
corded on the profit or loss side of the ledger. 
Having kept no account of their doings, they 
are almost wholly in the dark. They can only 
'-''guess it's about so." 

These ideas were forcibly brought to my mind 
last evening, as my neighbor Sn\ith came in 
while I was writing in my farm record, and, 
noticing my occupation, said, with a sly twinkle 
in his eye, — 

" What you doin', — book-keepin' ? " 



Guess Farming. . 1 1 

" Yes, a little. Squaring up my accounts for 
this year. You know to-morrow is the f.rst 
day of January, and I always like to commence 
the new year with a clean sheet, and to know 
how I stand with the world in general, and my 
fellow-men in particular. Besides, I want to 
know whether it has paid me to farm it this 
year. I suppose you keep farm accounts, don't 
you?" 

"Me? No. It's too much bother. I can 
keep my 'counts in my head." 

" Don't you think it's better to have something 
you can rely upon ? You know we are all apt 
to be forgetful." 

" It's well enough for store-keepers, and sich, 
to keep 'counts ; but I don't see no need of a 
farmer spendin' time doin' it." 

" Isn't it as much for our interests to look 
after and keep posted in our own business, as 
it is for the merchant to attend to his?" 

" Well, yes, I s'pose so. But w4iat is the use 
of a feller's writin' down everything about what 
he does?" 

" It fays to do it, Smith." 

" T don't see how.'* 



12 Farm Talk. 

" Well, look here. How was youi' corn crop 
this year?" 

" Pretty fair ; though the frost hurt it some.'' 

"Shall you plant some more next ^^ear?" 

" Sartln. I alius plant a piece o' c orn.'* 

"What for?" 

"What for! Why, because — because I alius 
have." 

" Yes, I see. Now, Smith, how much did 
that field of corn pay you?" 

" Pay me ! Well, I guess about " 

" That isn't it. I don't care what you gziess; 
do you kizozuP^' 

"Well, not exactly; but I cal'late " 

" Never mind. But really, now, do you 
know whether you made or lost money in rais- 
ing that field of corn? There's the rub." 

" Dunno as I do, for sartin." 

" Now, see here, Smith. Here is my ' Corn 
Field Record.' I have written down everything 
connected with it, and to-day I have summed 
it all up, and know all about it; there's not 
a particle of guess work. Here is the size of 
the field ; kind of soil ; when and how many 
times it was ploughed, harrowed, and furrowed ; 



Guess Panning, 13 

and also the amount and kind of manure ; how 
it was applied, and what and how much top- 
dressing I used. Then there is the time of 
planting ; preparation, and kind of seed ; how 
far apart it was planted in the rows and hills, 
and how many stalks in the hill ; when and 
how long after planting it came up ; manner of 
cultivating, time of harvesting, &c. And here 
I have got, in exact figures, the cost, value, and 
price of everything ; planting, hoeing, and har- 
vesting ; the value of the corn, beans, pumpkins, 
and fodder ; the value of the manure, rent of 
land, manure left in the soil, and every item set 
down in full, so that I know exactly what it cost 
me to raise that piece of corn, and thus whether 
it pays to continue to grow corn under such 
circumstances." 

This is only an example. All other farm 
operations may be recorded in somewhat the 
same manner, more simple, if you please, and then 
there would be an end of the continual guessing 
and thi^iking^ and ignorance in regard to those 
things we should know about. Of course keep- 
ing such records occupy some time, but how 
can it be spent to more advantage than in thus 



14 Farvi Talk. 

obtaining a better knowledge of our profession, 
and the workings of that special branch in 
which we may be engaged? Brother farmers, 
think of this matter, and act upon it. Don't be 
careless and stubborn, and persistently continue 
to drive on in the old ruts, simply because you 
have been accustomed to so doing, or because 
your fathers have done so before you ; but ac- 
cept a change whenever it is for your advantage 
to do so, if not for your own sakes for the 
good of your boys and posterity. 




Pedigree Corn, 15 




II. 

PEDIGREE CORN. 

HE year 1S66 was a " han corn year" 
throughout all New England. Cold 
weather and rainy days were the rule, 
and not the exception. Corn loves 
warmth and dryness, and pines in a cool, damp 
atmosphere. The two preceding years were 
the warmest and dryest on record, consequently 
were what farmers term " great corn years." 
Corn grew and matured planted most anywhere. 
But this year it was different. There was a 
fair yield, but it was very backward, and many 
fields were frost-bitten before the kernel was 
fairly " glazed." An unusually wet and rainy 
September was a great drawback to its ripen- 
ing. Notwithstanding these failings on the part 
of the season, my neighbor Johnson raised a 
good crop of corn, and some specimen ears, 
which he exhibited at the County Fair, attracted 
a good deal of attention. 



1 6 Farm Talk. 

'" That's good corn for this year," sai.i a farm- 
er, pointing to Johnson's fine-looking trace. 

'' Yes," said another ; " wonder how he was 
so Uicky as to get such a good crop." 

" Guess he must have used a big pile of ma- 
nure, and had some warm soil too, not to speak 
of top-dressing," said a third. 

Here Johnson happened along, and they be- 
gan questioning him. 

"What kind of land did this corn grow on?" 

" Rocky upland, well drained." 

"What did you manure it with?" 

" Hog manure, mixed with muck, and a hand- 
ful of plaster and ashes to each hill after the 
corn broke through the ground." 

"Ground ploughed in the fall?" 

" No ; broke up in the spring, harrowed well, 
and planted on the sod." 

"Like it so better than old ground?" 

" Yes ; the turf heating and rotting, heats 
the soil just when the young corn-roots need the 
warmth most ; and, besides, the ground is not 
so weedy, requiring less labor in cultivating." 

"Dung it in the hill?" 

" Yes ; one large shovelful to a hill." 



Pedigree Co7'n. 17 

"Like hog dung better than old maiure?" 
" Certainly. It's much better for corn." 
"What kind of seed was yourn?" 
" Well, we call it the Dutton corn, generally ; 
but I don't know what is the exact name of it. 
However, I call this my ' Pedigree ' corn ; and 
I consider the principal reason why I had such 
good luck this year was because I took pains 
with my seed." 

"What did you do to it?" 
" Well, gentlemen, I'll tell you all about it, 
and why I call this my Pedigree corn. For 
se\ eral years it has been my practice to select 
the best ears of corn to be found in my field, 
and preserve them for next year's seed. By so 
doing, I think the quality and productiveness 
of my corn have been gradually improving 3'ear 
after year, until now I can see that it is much 
superior to that first grown." 

"Does the cob have a red peth?" 
" Sometimes red and sometimes white." 
"I like red peth corn best." 
" I never saw any difierence in the quality of 
the corn, whether the cob had a red or white 
pith, and am of the opinion that both may be 
3 



1 8 Farm Talk. 

tound 0!i the same stalk; — but I will ^o on 
about my seed corn After the corn is thorough- 
ly ripened, I make my selection. I take only 
those ears which are rowed perfectly, fully ripe, 
and golden yellow, with the end tipped or cov- 
ered with kernels, and only those which grow 
on a stalk producing two or more sound ears. 
These ears I carefully trace or braid together 
by the husks left on them for this purpose, and 
hang them away in a dry place, where they 
will not be exposed to extreme cold, and be- 
yond the reach of vermin. This I do every fall, 
and the next spring I have a superior article 
of seed corn, which I have christened my Pedi- 
gree corn." 

" Well, I don't know ; sometimes I've plant- 
ed the best ears I could pick out of the lot, and 
sometimes only the tip ends and common ears, 
and I didn't see much difference in the crop." 

"Perhaps not. I do not say that the Im- 
provement will be discernible in one year ; 
perhaps not in two ; but I do say that such a 
practice, persistingly followed for a term of 
years, will be productive of good results. It is a 
great law of Nature that like produces like, to a 



Pedigree Corn, lo 

great extent, and the principle is as correct in 
reference to seeds and plants, as in the case of 
the higher orders of animal life. This is a fact 
which we, as farmers, do not sufficiently con- 
sider. We are too apt to be willing to dis- 
pose of the best of our flocks, herds, or crops, 
and use the poorest for planting, sowing, or 
breeding. Let us remember that the best we 
can raise or obtain is none too good for our 
own use, and that growing or breeding from 
inferior seed or animals always has a tendency 
to deteriorate, or run out the quality of the 
production, and vice versa'"' 




I 



20 Farm Talk. 




III. 

ABOUT HAYING. 

OME, boys, hitch up the mower, and 
we'll cut the ten-acre lot to-day. Here 
it is the loth of July, and no grass 
cut down yet. I don't believe in feed- 
ing all straw to the stock next winter, but I do 
believe in feeding dried grass, and if that field 
remains much longer, there will be nothing but 
dead stalks to cut. Early cut hay is far more 
valuable to feed out than that which is not cut 
until it is ripe." 

At this juncture, neighbor Smith, who is look- 
ing on, and who usually times his haying op- 
erations by mine, because, he says, I have a 
" b'rometer," takes a fresh quid, and inquires, — 
''Ain't ye beginnin' a little airly?" 
" No. If the season hadn't been so back- 
ward I should have commenced a week ago ; 
but, as it is, I hope to get my grass cut in time 
to be palatable to the animals next winter." 



About Haying. 2i 

" But don't you think it spends better not 
to cut it tiJl it's about ripe?" 

" Perhaps it will spend better if cut then ; 
but the question is, when to cut it so that the 
hay will make the best quality of food ; and, 
from experience, I have found that period to 
be when the plant is just opening its blossoms. 
Besides, I have submitted the question to a 
competent jury, which was my stock last win- 
ter, and they unanimously agreed with me, and 
if they are not judges of good hay, v/ho is?" 

" But them scientific fellers say it's got the 
most goodness in it when it's ripe." 

" Yes, I know they say various wise things, 
which, unfortunately, do not always prove to 
be practicable. Now, I don't pretend to know 
what is the amount of gluten, starch, sugar^ or 
other elements contained in the grass which I 
cut so early, but I do know that my stock eat 
it up cleaner, like it better, and keep in better 
condition when fed on it, than when kept on 
hay which remained in the field until it was 
ripe before it was mown ; and that is all I am 
particular aboit knowing of the matter, from a 
practical point of view." 



I 



22 Farm Talk, 

" Well, I always kinder thought they liked it 
better, but I didn't know." 

" Certainl;y they do. Stock will eat early 
cut hay, even if it is of second or third quality, 
and leave but few orts. Grass in which there 
are a good many weeds and brakes should 
always be cut early. The English grasses will 
depreciate the least by leaving until nearly ripe. 
Fodder which, if allowed to remain until it has 
seeded, is worthless, if cut quite early, makes 
very good feed for sheep and young stock. 
What old lady nurse would think of letting 
her herbs remain until dead ripe before cutting 
them? No, she gathers them while in blossom, 
' so as to get all the good of them,' she says. 
It's just so with the plants we use for fodder for 
our stock — cut them while in blossom, and we 
get all the good there is in them." 

" It don't look like being a good hay day, 
it's so cloudy." 

" Clear days are not always the best hay 
days." 

" What kind of weather do you think is best?" 

'*■ I consider a cloudy day, with a fresh, warm, 
south-west wind, preferable. A clear day and 



About Haying. 23 

hot sun is not essential to haymaking. There 
is a great ei ror, which too many of our farmers 
fall into, — they ' make ' their hay altogether 
too much. To make good hay, grass requires 
to be thoroughly dried, not scorched and burned. 
No doubt but the very best method of curing 
hay is to do it under cover ; but this is not prac- 
ticable to any considerable extent. The best 
herdsgrass hay I ever saw was mowed after the 
dew was off, put into the barn green, spread 
out thin, and thus made under cover, without 
allowing the sun to fall on it." 

"How about clover?" 

" Clover should be mown when dry, wilted 
in the sun, and then, if possible, made in the 
cock by sweating. It can then be handled with- 
out breaking off and losing the leaves, which 
are the most valuable portion of the plant. Yes, 
sir, it's my opinion we ' make ' our hay alto- 
gether too much." 

" 'Twouldn't, make much difference when you 
cut your hay, if you was goin' to press it up 
and se'l it, would it?" 

" Pej-haps not ; but it's only in very rare and 
partici.lar cases a farmer can afford to sell his 
hay." 



24 Farm Talk. 

" Does your b'rometer say fair weather to- 
day?" 

"Yes; the mercurial column is pretty high, 
and has been so for some days." 

" Is that always a sure sign of good weather?" 

" Generally so ; but I find a barometer is not 
always to be depended upon. It requires a 
good deal of practice and observation to enable 
one to judge of the weather from its changes." 

"It falls for storms, don't it?" 

" Most always. But it is not always a true 
prophet. It will sometimes fall and rise with- 
out any corresponding changes in the weather. 
Yet there are many times, as in the case of 
sudden squalls and showers, when it is sure to 
give the alarm." 

"Does it pay to have one?" 

" Yes, I think it does. I remember one in- 
stance last haying season. We had experienced 
a three days' fog storm, with the wind still fresh 
to the east. In the morning I noticed the mer- 
cury in my barometer was rising fast, notwith- 
standing it was still thick and foggy, and T 
knew therefore v e should have fair weather in 
Twelve hours or less ; so we set our men to 



About Haying. 25 

mowii:g, and worked nearly a day, while our 
neighbors' crews were lying still, fearing the 
weather. It is also handy about foretelling thun- 
der storms when there is hay out. But, though 
I have observed and studied one almost daily 
for many years, yet even now I would not pre- 
tend to be a wiser weather prophet than many 
of our old experienced farmers." 




26 Farm Talk, 




IV. 

FANCY FARMERS. 

HAT do you think of paying five hun- 
dred dollars for a ram ? " 

" Why, I think it's a pretty big 
price." 

" Big price ! It's a regular swindle." 
"Don't you think such prices are paid?" 
" No, I don't. I always calculated the re- 
ports of such great prices were humbugs, got 
up by the fancy farmers, who, I think, do more 
harm than good in any neighborhood. Their fast 
horses, thousand-dollar sheep, and big roosters, 
are altogether too ' fast ' for us common farmers." 
" Well, neighbor, I partly agree with you. 
No doubt there have been many falsely reported 
sales, for purposes well understood ; but, on 
the other hand, a large number of rams have 
been sold in this country during the last five 
years at prices ranging from five hundred to 
upwards of a thousand dollars each." 



Fancy Farmers. 27 

"But were they worth it?" 

"Ah, that's another question, and one which, 
in my opinion, must be answered in the nega- 
tive. It is an old saying, that a thing is worth 
just what it will bring ; but here is an excep- 
tion to the general rule. A s.ieep-fever, or ma- 
nia, rages throughout a portion of the country, 
and rams of the most fashionable breeds com- 
mand prices far above their real value." 

" But, neighbor, when you say that fancy 
farmers cause more harm than good to the lo- 
cality in which they live, I must dissent from 
your position. As the term is usually under- 
stood, fancy farmers are those who, possessed 
of capital, expend it lavishly upon their ftirms 
in various directions, according as their tastes 
or prejudices lead them, and not always in an 
economical, or even, perhaps, sensible manner. 
They buy fast horses, blooded stock, fancy sheep 
and poultry, artificial manures, improved im- 
plements, search for new seeds and fruits, and 
are always the first to take hold of any ' new- 
fiingied notion ' that starts up. They are usu- 
ally men who have made their money by some 
other profession than farming, and consequently 



28 Farm Talk. 

are not deeply versed in its mysteries, by ex- 
perience. They are theorists, — fanatics, if you 
will, — and they enter upon new schemes with 
more impetuosity than wisdom. In a word, 
they ' run things into the ground,' and in nine 
cases out of ten, their experiments leave them 
poorer in purse, but richer in experience. 

'' Now, we insist that such farmers — ama- 
teurs, gentlemen farmers, fancy farmers, or what- 
ever you see fit to term them — are acquisitions to 
any farming community. They are the pioneers 
in improvement — the extremists, who lead the 
way in the path of progression. By their opera- 
tions a whole neighborhood may profit. They 
conduct an experiment; — if it is successful, oth- 
ers may profit by it without running the risks ; 
if it is unsuccessful, we need not attempt, and 
have lost nothing. So no farmer, who keeps 
his eyes and his ears open, but may profit by 
the operations of his fancy farmer neighbor. 
He buys blooded stock, and pays what you con- 
sider an outrageous price. Very well ; he pays 
his own money, and if he is satisfied, we ought 
to be. He keeps this stock, and if of value, in 
tims it becomes mixed through all the surround- 



Fancy Farmers* 29 

ing herds, and we are the recipients of the gain, 
without being obliged to join in the expenditure. 
So of fertilizers and implements. He sees a 
new kind of machine or manure advertised, ob- 
tains it, and makes a trial of it. What is the 
result? If it is a success and l^ays, you can do 
the same ; but if it is a failure, you are none 
the poorer, rather richer in experience obtained 
through the use of another's capital. 

" Thus it is ; and all this outcry against ' fancy 
farmers' is just so much spleen, prejudice, 
and a mistaken idea in regard to the matter. 
To be sure it may make us feel a little envious 
to see our new neighbor, fresh from some oc- 
cupation in which he has acquired money, 
erecting nice buildings, purchasing fine stock, 
improving his fields, driving a stylish team, and 
spending his money generously, perhaps to us 
foolishly ; but such is not the right spirit. We 
should strive to banish all such unworthy feel- 
ings, and, making the best of what we have, 
endeavor to turn all his experiences to our own 
ad vantage, and learn from his failures as well 
as his successes." 



30 Farm Talk. 




V. 

WHEN TO SELL PRODUCE. 

OTATOES have got up to fifty-five 
cents a bushel : do you think a feller 
had better sell now^, or hold on to 
'em a while longer?" 
" Sell when it will pay to sell." 
There is no question so often asked us during 
the fall and winter as, "When do you think I 
had better sell" this, that, or the other croji? 
and, "■ Do you think" such and such a thing 
" will be higher or lower?" To the former, our 
invariable answer is. Sell when it pays for you 
to do so ; and to the latter. We cannot tell 
you, for in these days of changes and fluctua- 
tions, no man can tell what a day may bring 
forth as regards the produce markets. Of course 
there are certain general facts which have a 
bearing upon the matter, but these every farmer 
understands who is posted, as he ought to be, 
and may be, 



When to Sell Produce, 31 

"But how can I tell when 'twill pay?" 

" There's the rub, Smith. You don't know 
when, or at what price it will pay for you to 
sell your potatoes, because you don't know what 
they cost. Isn't that a tact?" 

" Wall, I don't know as I do know what 
they cost, adzactly ; you see I never reckoned 
clust." 

There, farmers, is the whole truth in a nut- 
shell. You don't know at what price you can 
aflbrd to sell your produce, because you don't 
know what it cost you to raise it. Isn't it so? 
How many of you can tell what your crops cost 
you in the aggregate, or by the ton, bushel, or 
pound, as the case may be ; or can tell whether 
you are making or losing, whatever the market 
price may be? We think we are safe in say- 
ing, not two in a hundred. You think, guess, 
calculate, about so much, but you don't know. 
Wheat may be forty cents or a dollar and a quar- 
ter, and potatoes fifty or seventy-five cents a 
bushel, but you don't know whether it will pay 
for you to sell yours or not, because you can't 
tell what they cost. And so you " go it blind." 
If you hit a price that pays, you consider it a 



32 Farm Talk. 

stroke of good luck ; and if you lose, you " grin 
and bear it.'^ But to return to Smith. 

"What would you call paying?" 

" When the amount received equals the cost 
of production, with a fair percentage on the cap- 
ital employed." 

This is what we consider sound advice, and 
the true policy, it being a safe course under all j 
circumstances. If the market price is not suf- 
ficient to make good the cost of production, you 
are fully justified in holding on to your produce, 
as a general rule ; but if it will return that, and 
good interest on the money in addition, you are 
on the safe side to dispose of it. But Smith 
says, — 

" You can't keep potatoes always, you know." 

" Very true. Those products which arc of 
a perishable nature must be disposed of before 
another growing season, even at a sacrifice. 
Potatoes, and all kinds of vegetables and fruits, 
must be sold in their seasons, else they are a loss 
on the producer's hands." 

" 'Tain't always good v^eather to haul stuff 
to market, neither." 

" That fact must also be taken into considera- 



When to Sell Produce. 33 

tion. Late autLimn and the winter season is the 
time the farmer can best attend to his marketing, 
and it will not pay to haul any distance over 
bad roads, or in the busy season of the year, 
for a few cents more on a bushel or pound. 
Could you afford to leave off in planting time 
to haul your potatoes to market, even if they 
were ten cents a bushel higher than in the 
winter?" 

" No ; not for twenty cents more." 

" Of course not." 

" I don't know, after all, but the best way 
to market your crops is to sell it on four 
legs." 

"What do you mean by that?" 

" Why, eat it up on the farm ; feed it out to 
stock, and sell the animals." 

That course is certainly preferable for those 
farmers who live at a distance from the markets, 
particularly the hay and grain ; but large quan- 
tities of potatoes are not convenient to feed out, 
and I much doubt the expediency of so doing if 
they command fifty cents a bushel, wdien corn 
can be bought for a dollar. 

3 



34 Farm Talk. 

" Do you cal'late a bushel of corn is worth 
as much as two of potatoes for stock?" 

" Pretty near. Potatoes are first rate for an 
occasional feed, particularly with hay or dry 
fodder ; but corn meal is the richest and best 
of anything in the shape of grain as food for 
stock." 

"• Wall, I don't s'pose a feller can tell what 
his crops cost him, unless he keeps some kind 
of reckonin' or 'counts, can he?" 

" That's it, exactly. Smith. We farmers are 
altogether too slack and negligent in our busi- 
ness matters. What would you think of a mer- 
clumt who knew nothing of the cost of his 
articles, and sold just as it happened? Of course 
he would soon fail, and he would deserve to. 
We can all see the impropriety of such a course. 
Then, why not apply it to our own business, our 
own profession? If anything, it is more com- 
plicated than the merchant's, and therefore re- 
quires more attention, and a stricter approach 
to method and system. Let us look before we 
leap. Forewarned is forearmed ; or, as the 
modern adage has it, be sure you're right, then 
go ahead. But we are not sure we are right, 



When to Sell Produce. 35 

and never can be, until the present slip-shod 
method of farming is done away with, and a 
system is inaugurated whicli is more in accord- 
ance with the needs of those who obtain a living 
by the cultivation of the soil." 




36 Farm Talk, 




VI. 

BUTTER MAKING. 

HILE making a call on my neighbor, 
Squire Brown, the other evening, the 
conversation turned on butter making 
and the dairy. The Squire keeps a 
small but fine dairy, consisting of a half dozen 
cows or so, and his wife is well known as a 
superior butter maker and dairy woman. I 
asked Mrs. Brown if she had any secret method 
of operation for making such nice butter at any 
and all seasons of the year. 

" O, no, indeed ! Only the method I've fol- 
lowed during these last twenty years." 

" But your butter brings an extra price in 
market, and is always so hard, yellow, and nice- 
looking, whether it is winter or summer. How 
do you save your cream?" 

" I skim the previous day's milk every morn- 
ing, keep it in a stone jar, in a cool place, and 



Butter Making. 37 

chun: as often as necessary, — say, three or foui 
times a week, according to the season." 
'"What kind of a churn do you use?" 
'* The old-fashioned ' dasher.' I've tried sev- 
eral of the ' patents,' but none of them suit 
me. It's a great deal of labor to keep them 
clean." 

"How do you 'lay down' your butter?" 
" I make most of it into balls, to suit my 
customers, who like it better so for table use 
The rest I pack into stone jars, cover it with 
a layer of salt, and keep in the celkir until 
wanted for use or the market." 

" What quantity of salt do you use to the 
pound? " 

" A very little over an ounce to a pound. 
But some of my customers like it salted lighter. 
I am always careful to have the very best fine 
salt that can be found. Another, and I think 
one of the principal things in making good 
butter, is, to keep everything you use perfectly 
sweet and clean ; which requires a strict per- 
sonal attention, as well as plenty of scalding 
water." 



38 Fa7'm Talk. 

" How do you operate with your cream in 
cold w^eather?" 

" Warm the churn with scalding water, and 
set the cream near the fire, if possible, until 
warm enough. Or warm water may be added 
to the cream before churning, until it is of the 
right temperature." 

At this point, the Squire, who had been quiet- 
ly listening to the conversation, broke in with, 
" That's all very true, but you haven't given me 
any credit. I don't believe you can make bricks 
without sand, neither do I believe you can make 
good butter without good milk ; and I know you 
can't have rich milk and cream without good 
cows, well fed." 

" That's my opinion, exactly, Squire ; and I've 
no doubt but Mrs. Brown's success in butter 
making is due as much to your out-of-door 
management as to her excellent method of oper- 
ation. Are your cows any particular breed, 
Squire?" 

" Well, no. The older ones are natives, and 
the younger ones are part Ayrshire blood. When 
I buy or raise a good cow, it don't make any 
odds to me what breed or blood she is. The 



Butter Making. 39 

proof of a cow Is in the milk-pail, though I 
s'pose blooded stock is best to breed from." 

" At what age do you have your heifers 
'come in'?" 

" The spring they are two-year olds, always. 
I don't believe in waiting till they are three-year 
olds, as some do ; it's a dead loss of one year. 
I've tried it often enough to convince me. They 
make just as good cows to come in at two as 
to wait longer. To be sure the heifer gets more 
growth on her if she don't calve till she's three 
years old, but I never believed in monstrous 
cows. Of course I'm speaking of heifers which 
are well kept, and are thrifty, and large of their 
age. Only early calves, such as come in Feb- 
ruary or March, are suitable to raise. Then 
they can be weaned on hay, and, with a good 
pasture, will come to the barn in as good con- 
dition to winter as common yearlings." 

" What is your general feed for your cows dur- 
ing the winter, or while they are at the barn ? " 

" Plenty of good English hay, with one feed 
a day of either roots or meal. Those that are 
in milk get a little extra, for it pays to do it. I 
give them as much clean water as they want 



40 



Farm Talk. 



twice a day, and let tlicin run in the }nrd sunny 
weather. Get good cows, and give them gen- 
erous food ; keep them warm and clean, and use 
them kindly, and there is no branch of farm- 
ing tliat is more pleasant, or pays better." 




Getting Ready for the Cattle Show. \i 




VII. 

GETTING READY FOR THE CATTLE SHOW. 

UR County Agricultural Society's an- 
nual liiirs and cattle shows, or exhibi- 
tions, arc very jDowcrful influences 
towards elevating and bettering the 
condition of the common farmer, and advancing 
the cause of agriculture, if they are properly 
conducted. But that's what's the matter. Too 
many of them are made the vehicle for setting 
forth the peculiar ideas of certain men, and too 
many more are conducted in a manner not in 
accordance with the intentions of the act in- 
corporating them. One makes flowers a spe- 
ciality, another favors sheep, and a good many 
"run all to horse," — horse walking, trotting, 
and racing, with all the usual concomitants, — 
intemperance, gambling, and immoralities. But, 
we are glad to say, that horse-racing, in connec- 
tion with our agricultural exhibitions, s every 
year growing less frequent, and the leading 



42 Farm Talk, 

farmers and agricultural papers in the country 
are taking a firm and decided stand against it. 

This matter of cattle shows was brought to 
ray mind yesterday while over to neighbor 
Smith's. He is preparing for the cattle show ; 
in fact, has been preparing for the last six 
laonths. He has been getting ready at the rate 
of a little less than a dollar a day. The par- 
ticular line in which Smith will exhibit this 
year is in bulls. He is raising a bull calf, 
which, he says, he "is bound shall take the 
shine off" anything in our county, and it is 
my private opinion he will get the premium. 
You see, last February, one of Smith's cows 
dropped a large bull calf, and lie immediately 
conceived the idea of making a premium ani- 
mal out of him. So he has had the milk of the 
dam, and also most of the milk of another cow, 
all summer, and as a consequence has grown 
rapidly, being now about the size of one of my 
yearlings. Smith has taken the very best care 
of him, feeding plenty of grass, and what meal 
he would eat, and now he is a miracle of size 
and fatness. 

"What do you think of him?" said Smith 
to me, looking admiringly at his bovine pet. 



Getting Ready for the Cattle Show. 43 

" He's large, certainly, and sleek too." 
" W Dn't he make a splendid bull ! " 
" Well, he looks like it ; but you can't always 
tell when they are so young." 

That was as fully as I dared indorse Smith's 
opinion. When I remembered that the calf's 
sire was a " scrub " bull, and the dam only a 
common native, I knew that nine chances to 
one the calf would make an inferior stock ani- 
mal. This is why we need blooded or thorough- 
bred animals for stock getting or breeding, — 
they almost invariably mark their "get" with 
their own valuable peculiarities and character- 
istics ; whereas, if a native-bred bull be used, be 
he never so well-formed and fine an animal, his 
offspring are likely to " cry back " to his scrub 
parentage. These are facts, well grounded, and 
should be duly heeded by every stock raiser, be 
his speciality cattle, horses, sheep, or swine. 

But Smith's bull calf will receive the first 
premium, and a good deal of praise gratis. 
There's no doubt in my mind about that, yet 
the question comes up, Will it fay? "Ay, 
there's the rub." I asked Smith,— 
" How do your pigs grow?" 



A A Farm Talk. 

" They don't seem to grow very fast. Takei 
an awful sight of milk for pigs." 
''Butter is pretty well up, isn't it?" 
" Don't know ; haven't sold any this summer. 
Been feeding the eali; you know." 

That shows where the shoe pinches. But \ 
Smith has got a fine, yes, an extra bull calf, j 
and will get the premium, and perhaps a " di- ; 
plomzy." That's a foregone conclusion. The 
wise and fiir-seeing committee on " bulls, cows, 
and heifers," will view Smith's specimen of 
adipose matter with a look of wisdom and 
knowledge which only " committee men " can 
assume, and pronounce favorably, for liit goes 
a great ways in their opinion, and, like wealth, 
covers a multitude of sins and deformities. 

Thus fat and size are made the criterion ; and 
this false idea prevails extensively, as witness 
the decisions of too many of the "judges" at 
om- annual cattle shows. Do not understand 
me as decrying the habit of carrying your best 
to your county fair, and of striving to raise fine 
stock and good crops. Far from it. It is just 
what I would have every farmer do ; and here 
let me advise, even urge, every farmer to attend 



Getting Ready for the (battle Show. 45 

his county fair and cattle show; and not only 
go yourself, but take the family, particularly the 
boys, making the occasion an annual holiday. 
And further, do not go empty-handed, or to look 
at what somebody else contributes. Furnish 
your own mite towards filling up, and making 
the exhibition complete and interesting. Take 
along some of the best specimens from your 
crojos, garden, orchard, and farm-yard, for com- 
parison with those of your neighbors. That's 
wherein you arc the gainer ; by learning how 
others operate, and being willing to give up your 
own method and opinions for anything that is 
better. 

But what I do condemn is the practice so 
prevalent of pampering, petting, and forcing 
certain animals or crops at the expense of others, 
for the purpose of creating a monstrosity of size 
and growth ; and also the action of those com- 
mittees who award premiums to such specimens. 
My neighbor Smith is not the only one who is 
feeding a pet calf with nearly all the milk of 
his cows, while his table lacks butter, and his 
pigs squeal lustily in the sty. 

« ♦ « « « 



^6 Farm Talk. 

"A pretty good cattle show, Smith?" 

" First rate. I got the first premium on the 
bull calf." 

"Ah! Did you?" 

" Yes. And the committee said he was the 
biggest and fittest calf ever shown on the 
grounds." 

" That's just as I expected." 




Agricultuj'al Colleges 47 




VIII. 

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 

CONVERSATION which I lately 
had with James Brown, my neighbor 
the Squire's oldest son, in relation to 
our Industrial School or Agricultural 
College, presents so forcibly the opinions and 
position of our farmer boys in regard to the sub- 
ject, that I am induced to give it here. James 
is a fine specimen of our well-to-do farmers' 
sons, with a fair common-school education, ob- 
tained at the district school ; which, by the way, 
he has taught for the past two winters. He is 
now in his twentieth year, possesses a good con- 
stitution, and is endowed with a fair share of 
intellectual capacity and good common sense. 
Such young men are the pride and hope of our 
country, and make its best and most estinjable 
citizens. 

Since the agitation and discussion of the ques- 
tion of agricultural education, the Squire has 



48 Farm Talk. 

been much interested, and it has been his wish 
and intention to assist his son towards obtainin;^ 
such knowledge as should enable him to become 
a successful farmer, and the equal of his fellows ; 
in the other professions. And James is not | 
averse, providing the conditions are such as he 
considers practicable. Meanwhile the 3^ears have 
rolled by, and he is nearly of age, and expects. . 
soon to enter into the labor of life upon his own 
account. He has but a couple of years or less, 
at most, to devote to study, and he is only one 
of a large class similarly situated. 

Said James to me, — 

" They are going to open the Agricultural 
College this spring, ain't they?" 

" So I understand." 

"What do you think of it, anyhow?" 

" I think well of the idea, but I am not well 
eiough informed as to the plans of those having 
charge to decide as to particulars. It is com- 
paratively a new project, and we must be con- 
tent to wait for results." 

" I've had some idea of Sfoing: to this collesre, 
but I want to understand more and better how 
it is to be conducted, and what will be required 



Agricultural Colleges. 49 

of the students. I've heard say that the course 
will be four, or at least three years. If that's 
so, then it's no use for me to talk about it. I 
haven't got any such length of time to spare, 
neither ami able to expend the amount of money 
required to carry me through such a course. 
I would like to spend a year or so more in 
learning some of those things intimately con- 
nected with farming, but I have no intention 
of entering upon the study of a dozen 'ologies, 
without a prospect of ever completing one of 
them." 

"' It is, I believe, the intention to introduce 
only those studies which have a direct bearing 
upon the object in view, and that practice and 
theor}' shall go hand in hand." 

" Here I've been at work upon the farm ever 
since I was large enough to do chores, and I 
ought to have a tolerably good idea in re- 
gard to the various operations ; what I want to 
learn now is, the why and wherefore — why 
such a thing is done so and so, why such acts 
and methods of operating produce such results, 
and the best ways of performing them, given 

4 



50 Farm Talk. 

and received through the medium of actual 
practice, so that I can do it again if required." 

" That is going to be one of the greatest dif- 
ficulties in the way of conducting such a school 
successfully — to find men qualified for teach- 
ers. There are enough to be had who are fully 
competent to teach the theory, but are they ca- 
pable of going into the field, orchard, or barn, 
and putting their knowledge into practice in 
such a manner as to instruct and benefit their 
pupils? That's the trouble. On the other hand, 
there are plenty of practical farmers who are 
thoroughly conversant with the methods of per- 
forming the various operations required to be 
done upon the farm ; they have everything at 
their finger ends, but they have not the power 
and faculty of imparting their knowledge to 
others. Thus you see is required one of those 
rare men, in whom knowledge and ability to 
impart and execute are united. Such men our 
professors should be, and such they must be, to 
insure success to the institution." 

" There is another point, — the amount of 
manual labor to be performed. If a fellow has 
got to work on the farm all day, or a greater 



Agricultural Colleges. 51 

part of the time, it's no use for him to think of 
studying to any advantage, for I've tried that. 
You hold a breaking-up plough half a dav, or 
work in the hay field, or hoeing, or any other 
kind of farm w^ork, and I tell you a fellow fee's 
more like going to bed than getting a lesson." 

" That's a fact ; and though I am an advo- 
cate of manual labor in connection with such 
a college, as one of the very foundation stones, 
yet I would have but a few hours each day 
devoted to it, and then it takes more the form 
of recreative exercise than labor. Some institu- 
tions of this character devote two hours each 
day to manual labor, which is certainly little 
enough." 

" O, yes ; two hours would only be enough 

I for exercise. Do the teachers or professors work 

I 

j with the scholars?" 

I " In some cases they do, in others the pupils 

work under the superintendence of the one who 

1 has the general charge of the farm. The former 

I method is far preferable, as it gives more in- 

I terest and dignity to the act." 

" How io they divide the work among the 
pupils?'* 



52 Farm Talk. 

" The l)est S3'sl;ciii I have heard of is where 
the pupils aie divided into classes, or gangs, 
each one under the charge of a teacher or pro- 
fessor. One class studies and works in the 
garden for a certain length of time, and then 
they are changed to the fields, while another 
takes their place, and so on, all taking turns in 
performing the necessary stable work." 

"• That looks quite sensible. Let every one 
do his share of the labor and the dirty work ; 
cleaning the stable, hauling the manure, plough- 
ing, &c. But if there's a class of students who 
are not obliged to labor, but pay more money 
instead, it would spoil the whole thing. I 
wouldn't stay in an establishment where such 
privileges were allowed. It wasn't intended 
for kid-gloved dandies, but for workers. How 
much do you suppose it will cost for a year's 
board at the college ? " 

" That I cannot tell ; but I see no reason why 
it might not be nearly self-supporting ; that is, 
each pupil would perform sufficient labor to 
raise his own food. Of course they would not 
expect the luxuries and delicacies, but plain, 
substantial food. At any rate, with such neces- 



Ag7'icttlttiral Colleges. 53 

sary articles for the students as every farm-Iioiise 
could fiunish, I think the expense would be 
comparatively small." 

"Well, I believe I shall try it, if they have a 
short or partial course. There's a great many 
points I v/ant to be posted on, and wliich I can't 
get out of books. They only tell how things 
are done, but I want to see them performed, 
and have it explained why they are done so. I 
want to understand the practice as well as 
the theory of farming." 




54 



Farjn Talk, 



IX. 




APPLE TREES AND INSECTS. 

Y neighbor Smith is just setting out a 
young orchard, and sa3'S he is ••' going 
into raising apples." In fact, Smith 
is a httle excited on the ajDple subject 
just now ; and, like a good many other worthy 
men, when he gets deeply interested in any sub- 
ject, is apt to run into extremes. We confess 
that with apples at two dollars a bushel, there 
is some temptation to try and grow them ; for, 
as Smith says, — 

"Don't you see how they pay? and I might 
as well make the money as anybody." 

All very true ; and far be it from my ititen- 
tion to discourage the planting of apple orchards. 
In fact, we consider it a duty we owe to the 
coming generations, that they may pluck the 
fruits which are the results of our labors, as we 
do of those who have gone before. But our 
planters should not be too sanguine, nor ex- 



Apple Trees and Insects » 55 

pect to reap the rewards too soon, for they will 
surely be mistaken. An orchard is not the 
growth of one year nor of five ; and though a 
man may reasonably expect to eat of the fruit 
of trees of his own planting, yet he must not 
expect to have full-grown trees from the seed, 
nor that they are to be grown without labor 
or care ; neither will the fruit always bring so 
.high a price in the market. 

We looked over the wall, and chatted a few 
minutes with Smith, while he was digging holes 
in the tough sward, and setting out his nursery- 
grown trees. 

"What do you think of these trees? — two 
years old, over three feet high, and as straight 
as a candle. Ain't they handsome?" 

Here he " chucked " another into a hole, and 
filled in deep with sods and wet dirt, finishing 
off with a heavy stamping down. 

" There, I call them pretty fair. The nur- 
seryman said they'd bear in six years after they 
were grafted, and I'm going to graft *em next 



>ring." 
" Better add ten to the six.' 



" Why ? Don't you think they are good 
trees?" 



56 Farm Talk. 

" O, these are not bad of the kind ; but there 
are better ones down in your sheep pasture." 

'' Do you mean them httie, gnarly, scrubby 
things?" 

" Yes. Some of them are perhaps a dozen 
years old, and not over three feet high, but they 
are stocky.' 

" Why do you think they are better than 
these?" 

"■ Because they are well rooted, and can be 
taken up with so many fibrous roots that the 
transplanting will not affect them much ; and 
they are also very hardy, and changing from a 
poor to a good soil will cause them to thrive 
and grow rapidly. Such stocks are prefera- 
ble to forced and pampered trees from the nur- 
sery." 

" What do you think of this field for an oi- 
chard?" 

" This easterly slope is good ; but a part of 
the field needs draining. Trees will not do well 
with their feet in the water. And if you ever 
expect to raise an orchard, you have got to 
use a little more care in setting them out, be- 
sides having the ground in better condition than 
this is.". 



Apple Trees and Insects. 57 

"What had I better do to It?" 

" Cultivate it a few years with a hoed crop, 
and manure it well, only be sure you put on a 
good deal more than you take off in the form 
of crops. Then you can seed it down to grass, 
only keep the trees well and widely mulched." 

"• I've got a lot of old poor hay and straw in 
the barn ; wouldn't that be good for mulching ? " 

" Yes ; any light vegetable matter will an- 
swer. If you do not plough the ground, you 
can use your old hay around your young trees 
to good advantage. Such a mulch seems to 
keep the soil about the roots loose, open, and 
moist during the hot summer da3^s." 

" I saw you at work in your orchard this fore- 
noon. Trimming it up?" 

" No ; June is the best time to prune. The 
wounds heal up quickly then. I was digging 
out borers, and cutting off caterpillar's eggs." 

" Well, I never knew much about them, and 
how they operate, though the caterpillars come 
pretty near eating my trees up last summer, 
before I could ge; rid of them. They and the 
borers come from bugs, don't they?" 

" Not exactly. I will give you their history 



58 Farm Talk. 

very briefly. The borer is a grub, which lives 
in the bark and wood of the apple tree, near the 
roots ; and, if not destroyed, will girdle the tree, 
and kill it. This grub, which hatches from a 
minute o.^^ laid by the parent beetle, lives in 
the wood three years, eating and growing every 
summer. In the spring of the fourth year it 
changes to a beetle, or perfect insect, which 
comes out of the tree, flies abroad in the night, 
and deposits its eggs for another generation of 
borers. Thus its life is divided into four states, 
or stages : the egg^ the grub or larva^ the 
pupa, which is the dormant state, and the 
imago, which is the perfect, or winged form, as 
the beetle. They are a great pest in some por- 
tions of the country." 

"Can't they be hindered?" 

" There is no certain preventive yet known. 
The only sure way is to examine the trunk of 
every tree, and cut them out, and kill them. 
This should be done twice a year, spring and 
fall." 

"How about the caterpillars?" 

" The apple-tree caterpillar belongs to a dif- 
ferent ordsr of insects, and when in its perfect 



Apple Trees and Insects, 59 

or winged state, is a moth or miller, instead of 
a beetle. This moth la3'S the belt or bunch of 
eggs on the twigs of the trees, which I have been 
cutting oif to-day. In the spring, when warm 
weather comes, a minute caterpillar hatches out 
of these eggs, which immediately begins to eat 
the tender apple leaves, and grows, and eats, 
and eats, throwing off and changing its skin 
several times during its life, till at last it is full 
grown about the last of June, when they leave 
the trees and cover themselves with an oval- 
shaped silken case, or cocoon, fastened in some 
sheltered place, and inside of this cocoon they 
change to the moth, which comes out in about 
three weeks, flies in the night, pairs, and the 
female lays her eggs for the next year's crop 
of caterpillars." 

" Do they go through the same forms as the 
borers? " 

*'Just the same. The ^%'g^ larva, pupa, and 
perfect insect." 

'' What's the best way to kill caterpillars?" 

" There are various methods recommended, 
which may be followed with a degree of suc- 
cess. It is always safe and sure to cut off the 



6o Farm Talk. 

eggs in the spring or fall, and burn them. I 
have found a good way to destroy them, after 
they are hatched and in their webs on the trees, 
is to make some very strong soapsuds, and give 
them, nests and all, a thorough soaking, by 
means of a brush or swab fastened on the end 
of a pole. A soaking of strong suds is sure 
death to them. This method is practicable, for 
the materials are always at hand for use." 




Middle-Men. 



6i 



X. 



MIDDLE-MEN. 




HERE is a large class of persons in 
this country called middle-men^ who 
operate in all communities, and who 
are of no benefit whatever. They arc 
non-producers, deriving their sustenance from 
the labor of others, like a parasitic plant. They 
buy from the producer, and sell to the con- 
sumer, thus directly injuring both parties, — the 
one paying too high for his necessities, the other 
being obliged to sell his products under price. 
These drones in the social hive are numerous, 
and are particularly inimical to the farmers' in- 
terests. From various causes we are in a con- 
dition to be more easily preyed upon by these 
cormorants than any other j^rofession. If the 
producers and consumers could be brought more 
directly together, so as to save the large profits 
of the middle-men, it would be greatly for the in- 
terests of both, and there would be less reascn 



62 Farm Talk. 

for bewailing the small profits of the one, and 
the high prices of products by the other. 

These middle-men comprise several minor 
classes, some stationary and others itinerant. 
These latter are found perambulating the pro- 
ducing regions wherever their keen visions scent 
the possibility of a " trade." One of these gen- 
try, whose speciality is cattle buying, called 
upon me yesterday, while I was in the field, 
ploughing. 

'' Mornin', Captin." 

" Good morning, sir." 

" Ileerd ye had some cattle to sell." 

" I have a yoke of beeves. Are you buy- 
ing stock ? " 

'' Wall, a leetle ; kinder off an' on like. 
Where's your oxen, Captin?" 

" Over yonder in the pasture. You can go 
down and look at them. I am very busy to- 
day. Drive on, John." 

He goes off to the pasture, and returns in 
about fifteen minutes. I ask him, — 

''What do you think of them? fat, ain't 
they?" 

" Middlin', Captin ; only middlin'." 



Middle-Men. 63 

"How much do vou make their "•iith?" 

" 'Bout seven foot ; rawny-boned too." 

" Wh}', I make them girth seven feet two, 
strong." 

" Kinder flabby ; they'll dress away a good 
deal." 

■ " They'd ought to be pretty solid. I fed them 
corn meal all last winter and this spring." 

"What's yer price, Captin?" 

" Two hundred dollars." 

" Two hundred ! Can't go that, no how." 

" Very vv^ell. Start up the team, John." 

Buyer looks rather disappointed, but follows 
me round till we reach the next headland, when 
he breaks out, — 

" Say, Captin, ain't that rather steep? Beef's 
a-goin' down. My brother come from Brighton 
t'other day, and says you can't hardly give it 
away there." 

"When did he leave Brighton?" 

" One day last week." 

" Well, I've yesterday's cattle market report, 
and beef is lending upward. What makes you 
so anxious t> buy if it is falling?" 

" Fact is, Captin, I like the looks of them 



64 Farm Talk. 

oxen. I'll split the ditlercnce betwixt that and 
a hundred and seventy-five." 

" My price is two hundred." 

" Let's go down and look at 'em agin." 

" Can't spend the time." 

" A feller couldn't make his salt to pay two 
hundred for 'em." 

" You're not obliged to take them." 

'' That off one ain't in near so good order ^ 
as the nigh one. Think he is?" 

" How did you know which was the off 
one?" 

'' Say, I'll go a live better." 

" You have heard my price." 

We have reached the end of the bout. Buyer 
makes a motion as if to leave. I make no 
remark, but set the plough in on the next fur- 
row, when he suddenly wheels with — 

'' Here's your money. Dang it ! I'll take 
the oxen." 

" All right. John, drive them up into the 
yard. Let the team ' blow ' a few minutes." 

'' Hain't got an old yoke, or halter, or some- 
thin' that you'll throw in, to fasten 'em with, 
have ye ? " 



Middle-Men. 



6S 



" Give him a halter, John." 

'' Good clay, Captin. Looks as if we might 
have a spell o' v^'^eather soon." 

As he goes dow^n die road, he meets Smith, 
to whom he says, " The Captin is a ' hard 
cud ' to trade with : couldn't beat him down 
a cent." 




66 



Fa7-ni Talk, 



XI. 




TAKING THE PAPERS. 

HIS looks a little more spring-like, 
neighbor." 

" Yes, this is a fine Sabbatli morn- 
ing. The snow is all gone, except an 
occasional sheltered bank, the frost is nearly 
out of the ground, and the patches of new green 
grass we see once in a while look quite re- 
freshing." 

"Done any planting yet?" ' 

^ No ; but I've got the ground ready for some 
early peas and jDotatoes." 

" Don't b'leeve in putting in seed when the 
sile is so cold. What paper was that you're 
read in'." 

" The Farmer^^ 

" What do you think about takin' so many 
papers, anyhow? My boys have been a-coaxin' 
me to take some kind of a farmin' paper, and 
I thought I'd ask y(>u whicli was tlie best one." 



Taking the Papers. 67 

*' That's rather a difTicult question, neighbor ; 
but I'll give you my opinion in regard to the 
matter. To be without a weekly newspaper is 
to be far behind the times; and for a farmer to 
be without one pertaining to his profession, is 
equivalent to V^eing behind the age in every- 
thing relating to that profession. The number 
of periodicals which a farmer should take, of 
course, depends somewhat upon his means; but 
no one is so poor as to be able to do without 
entirely. In the first place, he should support 
his local paper, whatever it is, if it does not 
deal too much in slang phrases and personalities, 
which, I am sorry to say, is the fact, in too many 
cases. Next, he should have his state agri- 
cultural paper, if there is one ; if not, the one 
published nearest him, as that treats especially 
of matters around him, and is applicable to his 
locality. Then, a good monthly, devoted exclu- 
sively to agriculture, with a magazine for the 
women folks, will answer very well for a farm- 
er's family, with such reading as is usually oVj- 
tained from other sources." 

" But that would be a pretty big bill to pay." 
" Reckon it up, and you will finrl it will 



68 Farm Talk. 

come withi i ten dollars, including postage and 
all ; and that is only the interest on a hundred 
dollars for a year at ten per cent. In what pos- 
sible way could money be put to better use, or 
spent to better purpose, both for yourself and 
family? The value of a good newspaper in a 
family of children cannot be estimated in dol- 
lars and cents." 

"There's Brown takes two or three farming 
papers, but he says he don't believe half there 
is in 'em." 

" Of course, it's just like everything else ; 
we must not believe everything we read, even 
if it is in the paper. There are a good many 
men who write for the press, who are like 
brother Wood, at the prayer-meeting, — they are 
blessed with the 'gift o' gab,' use a great many 
loud-sounding words, and take up a good deal 
of time ' a-sayin' nothin'.' It's just as hard keep- 
ing such men out of print as to keep them out 
of the church ; but they soon die out naturally, 
if left to themselves." 

" That's so ! It isn't them that makes the 
most talk that knows the most — not by a long 
shot." 



Taking the Papers. 6g 

" But about reading for farmers. There are 
other sources from which it can be obtained 
withou: costing much. Let half a dozen farmers 
in a neighborhood each buy a good book, and 
lend or exchange among themselves. They will 
thus have a winter's reading very cheaj^ly. Then 
there are the monthly and annual reports from 
the United States Department of Agriculture, 
which can be obtained free, upon application ; 
also reports of State Societies, and Boards of 
Agriculture, when they are in operation, which 
can be got by applying to your representative." 




70 Farm Talk. 




XII. 

THE 'OLOGIES. 

WAS into Smith's last night, and 
found him in quite a state of excite- 
ment, consequent upon reading an ar- 
ticle in an agricultural magazine I 
had lent him. In fact, Smith had "got his 
dander up" in regard to the doctrines and lan- 
guage contained in said article, and was willing 
to own it. He was " sputtering away " about 
humbugs, nonsense, 'ologies, &c. 

"What's the matter with the 'ologies, Smith?" 
" I don't believe in 'em, and never did. What's 
the use of so much ' flummy-diddle '? Plain 
common sense is enough for any farmer's paper. 
I'm a practical farmer, — none'o' your science 
about me ; and your 'ologies may ' go to grass ' 
for all me. I've no use for 'em." 

" Wait a bit ; don't get excited. Let's talk 
the thing over a little. Nothing like keeping 
cool to enable a fellow to understand the gist 



The 'Ologics. 71 

of the matter. Now, I believe you are about 
as much interested in the 'ologies, as you call 
them, as anybody." 

"No, sir; I'm dead set agin 'em." 

" Let's argue the point a little." 

" Wall, arger away ; but fust try aw apple, 
to clear your throat." 

" Thank you ; I will. Fine specimens these. 
What variety are they?" 

" Spitzenburghs : some o' my own graftin'.'* 

"Sure they're Sj^itzenburghs?" 

" Sartin. I've took considerable pains to study 
about apples, and I guess there ain't many kinds 
raised hereabouts but I can tell their names as 
quick as I put my eye on 'em." 

" I've no doubt of it ; and your knowledge 
on the subject proves that you are not only in- 
terested in, but pretty well acquainted with one 
of the 'ologies." 

"How do you make that out?" 

" Why, Pomology is the science that treats 
of fruit, and you have shown that you know a 
' thing or two ' about apples ; so there's one 
of the 'ola^ies." 

" Well, you've got me there." 



72 Farm Talk. 

" I think I have. Hand me over that wormy 
apple. Do you know what made the hole?" 

"A worm, of course, — an apple-worm." 

" Very well ; but do you know the history, 
habits, name, &c., of this worm?" 

" No ; though they say the worm comes from 
a miller." 

" Yes, a little moth or miller lays her eggs 
in the cal3'X, or blossom end of the young apple, 
just as it is beginning to grow, and from that 
C2,% the worm hatches which troubles the apple 
so badly. After this worm is grown to its full 
size, it changes to a chrysalis, in which form it 
remains through the winter, and from which 
the moth comes the next spring, and lays its 
eggs again for some more apple-worms. The 
scientific name of this insect is Carpocapsa 
pomonella^ and its common name is the apple- 
worm." 

" But I don't see where the 'ology comes in." 

'' Yes, you can ; for the science that treats 
of insects is termed Entomology. So there's 
another 'ology, in which you, in common with 
all other farmers, are deeply interested." 

'^ You're c oing well ; go on." 



The ^O logics, 73 

" Well, let's go into the subject a little deeper. 
What's the soil of your farm ? " 

'' Hard and rocky, mostly ; some sandy loom 
in the low ground and flats." 

"Any sand or clay?" 

" Yes ; there's a sand bed, and quite a clay 
bank over in the corner. There was a ' brick 
kill ' down there a good many years ago." 

"Any large stone?" 

"Some bowlders — granite; and the ledges 
crop out a little over in one corner of the pas- 
ture lot." 

" Very well ; there's another 'ology — Geolo- 
gy ; which treats of the formation and structure 
of the earth, and of what it is composed." 

" Well, I'll give up. Looks a little stormy 
out, don't it?" 

"What makes you think so?" 

" Because there's heavy rain-clouds rollin' in 
from the water, and the wind is 'out' strong." 

" That's another 'ology — Meteorology; which 
is the science that treats of the weather and 
the condition of the atmosphere ; a science with 
which every farmer is more or less practically 
acquainted. These are only a fcv^' of the 'ologies 



74 Farm Talk. 

in which ever} farmer is directly interested, and 
the principles of which are so frequently brought 
into his every-day practice. It's no use, Smith, 
for you to be ' down ' on the 'ologies." 

"Can you name another?" 

" Certainly. There's Physiology., both ani- 
mal and vegetable ; the former treating of every- 
thing that relates to animals, and the latter of 
plants. So you see it is absolutely necessary 
for a farmer to know something about this 
ology. The sciences are intimately connected 
with the farmer's operations at every step of his 
progress, and he is not a wise man who persist- 
ently opposes whatever to him seems to smack 
of science or is comprehended under the head- 
ing of an 'ology." 



An Evening's Chat, 75 




XIII. 

AN evening's chat. 

HIS looks a little winterish?" 

" Yes, decidedly so. Pretty good 
sleighing now, isn't it?" 

" Pretty fair ; a day's travel will 
make it excellent. Isn't this earlier than usual?" 
" Rather. There isn't more than one year 
out of ten we have sledding by the first of De- 
cember." 

" We haven't had any very cold weather yet?" 
'' O, no ; the coldest was this morning, when 
the mercury was down to 15^ ; cold enough, 
though, to give us warning to prepare for it." 
'' I was thinking of going to market to-mor- 
row with a load of potatoes. Do you suppose 
they will freeze?" 

'•' Not unless it is colder than it is now. I 
hauled potatoes, in barrels, last winter, at any 
time when the thermometer indicated a tem- 
perature above 15^, without any danger of their 



76 Farm Talk, 

being frost-bitten ; but for a long distance it 
wouldn't do to run the risk. It is said it takes 
several degrees more of cold to freeze them 
when in motion than when at rest." 

"Potatoes are doing pretty well in market?" 

" Yes. Footes and Jacksons bring fifty-five 
cents ; and at that price we can make a fair 
profit raising them, providing they don't rot ; 
but if they do, it kills the profits." 

" It's rjo use to plant any but these sorts for 
sale or family use. There's the Californias turn . 
out surprisingly, but you can't sell 'em in mar- 
ket. They're nothing but a 'bag of water' 
cooked — only fit for stock; and I am doubtful 
whether they pay then. They are handy, though, 
to have to feed occasionally through the winter, 
to keep the cattle loose. I'm feeding mine out 
now with my straw and coarse fodder, which I 
like to get rid of before mid-winter." 

" Well, Californias are poor, ain't fit to eat, 
as you say ; but I cooked and fed out twenty- 
five bushels this fall to my pigs, and they did 
well on it." 

" Guess yd u give 'em somethin' besides the 
potatoes." 



An Evening's Chat. 77 

" Of course. Mixed them with corn meal." 
■ " I see you've butchered. How much did 
your pigs weigh?" 

" One went two hundred and thirty-two, and 
the other three hundred and two pounds, at 
seven and a half months old. That sow was 
the largest and fattest pig of her age that ever 
I raised. They got nothing through the sum- 
mer but the waste milk of three cows and the 
slops from the house, and were fatted on po- 
tatoes, oatmeal, and bran, and corn meal for 
the last month. They both received the same 
keeping, yet the sow gained the fastest. I have 
always found that sow pigs are best for fall 
killing, but barrows are better to keep over 
winter." ^ 

" I s'pose you'll keep a spare-rib for Christ- 
mas? " 

" Yes ; I have packed them into a nice, clean 
barrel, with snow. They have frozen, and will 
keep first rate ; but I guess some of us ^will have 
to do without mince pies, aj^ples are so scarce, 
or make them minus the fruit." 

" I've got one barrel of Baldwins headed up 
and put in the cellar, and I shan't open it till 



78 Farm Talk. 

Christmas. If we have many more such cold, 
hard winters, I shall lose all my apple trees." 

" Don't lay it all to the cold ; it isn't exactly 
that which kills the trees, but it's the sudden 
changes, or extremes of temperature, usually in 
Aiarch. Thus we have a day or two of quite 
warm weather, which swells the buds and starts 
the sap up the trunk of the tree, then the wind 
suddenly changes to the nor'ard, the mercury 
in the thermometer goes down with a jerk, the 
sap freezes, and the buds are killed or the trunk 
bursts open. However, if we experience no 
sudden changes this winter, and no frost in blos- 
soming time, we shall undoubtedly have a heavy 
crop of apples next year, for the trees had a 
good season last summer to rest and obtain food 
for forming fruit buds for the next season's 
crop." 

"■ I'm going to graft some more of my trees 
next spring. What kind should you put in?" 

" Mostly Baldwins. There is no variety that 
has yet proved equal to them for a general mar- 
ket apple in this latitude. But there is one 
thing I would advise you not to do, and that 
is, not t() graft your old trees if they bear a fair 



Afi Evening's Chat, 79 

marketable apple, because it won't pay. A 
good many pretty good trees, and not a few 
orchards, have been ruined by their owners get- 
ting a touch of the 'grafting' mania." 

" That's a fact. I spoiled three or four. I'll 
never graft old, large trees again. But I must 
get home and put up my stock. Good day." 

" Drop in again, neighbor, some of these 
long evenings, and we'll have a social chat 
about matters and things in general, and farm- 
ing in particular." 




8o Far7n Talk, 




XIV. 

PLANTING FOR POSTERITY. 

ETTING out shade trees?" 

" Yes. Planting for posterity/' 
" Hem ! And posterity won't thank 
ye for it. Let every one look out for 
themselves, I say. I shan't trouble myself about 
what will happen fifty years after I'm gone." 

"To tell the truth, neighbor, it isn't wholly 
for posterity after all ; there are some selfish 
views at the bottom." 

" You don't never calc'late they'll grow big 
enough to make any shade worth mentionin* 
in your day, do ye?" 

" Perhaps not ; but then they may. Do you 
see those Balm o' Gileads that are higher than 
the barn now? Well, twenty years ago they 
were nothing but sprouts, which I stuck into 
the ground." 

" Yes ; but they are fast growers, and don't 
amount to anything after all." 



Planting for Posterity. 8i 

" I know they are not a very valuable va- 
riety for lumber, but it is a rapid grower, and 
easy of propagation, and while young makes a 
fine shade tree." 

"How old's them horse chestnuts?*' 

" Ten years from the seed ; and now they 
are about twenty feet high, and over six inches 
through at the butt. Last year they were covered 
with cones of splendid blossoms, making a very 
pretty sight, I can tell you." 

" But they're in a rich place." 

" Every tree transplanted should be placed 
in a good soil, adapted to its nature, else it's 
no use to set them out." 

" It costs something to take so much pains." 

" Yes, it costs, and it pays too. It pays not 
only in the pleasure of their possession, but in 
real dollars and cents. How much more do 
you suppose your farm would be worth if you 
had a row of handsome, well-grown shade trees 
on each side of the road through it?" 

^' I don't know as t' would be worth any 
more." 

" Well, then, how much more would it brings 
supposing it was put into the market to-day?" 
6 



82 Farm Talk. 

" Something, I s'pose." 

" Yes ; a pretty large ' something.' It would 
bring enough more to pay for the time, labor, 
and cost of setting out and taking care of the 
trees, ten times over. There is no method of 
adorning, and at the same time adding to the 
value of a farm so cheaply, as by planting fruit 
and shade trees." 

" Well, perhaps it's so." 

" Then again, as to planting trees for pos- 
terity. I consider it my duty as well as my 
pleasure to do so. Not onl}^ so because those 
I have set out in years a-gone have repaid me 
so well, but as a debt I owe those who, many 
years since, planted these trees which now give 
me shade and fruit. I will endeavor to do for 
those who come after me what my fathers have 
done for me. See those noble elms, some of 
them of nearly a century's growth ! Supposing 
our forefathers had decided that it didn't pay 
to plant trees, where should we have found such 
specimens? What better and more enduring 
mementos and proofs of their love for their race 
could they have chosen ? " 



Planting for Posterity, '^i^y 

'^ I suppose the elm is the best tree for shade 
there is, isn't it?" 

" It is certainly the very king of trees ; but 
there are many others worthy of a place beside 
it. There is the rock or sugar maple, which 
cannot be surpassed as a hardy, thrifty, and fast 
grower, with a fine form and foliage. The 
white or soft maple is also a fine tree, and 
especially in the autumn, when its brilliant col- 
ored leaves make it a very beautiful and desira- 
ble ornamental and shade tree. Then there are 
the ash and the oak ; good shade trees, but 
rather hard to transplant. Also the beech and 
the birches, which are ver}^ graceful, though 
but little used." 

" What's the best time in the year to trans- 
plant trees, do you think?" 

" In the spring, as soon as the ground is dry 
enough. At any rate before the buds begin 
to burst." 

'' Do you believe in cuttin' oft' much of the 
top when they are set out?" 

" That depends upon circumstances. If the 
roots are all, or nearly all, obtained, but little 
top pruning will be needed ; and, if possible, 



84 Farm Talk. 

only those trees should be taken up which can 
be removed with most of their roots. How- 
ever, if it is thought advisable to transplant a 
larger tree, and many of the roots are lost, a 
severe top pruning is necessary." 

" Had the soil ought to be manured before 
setting out shade trees?" 

" It is not necessary if it is in good condition. 
But all newly-transplanted trees should be deep- 
ly mulched the first year at least, to keep the 
soil moist, and the roots from suffering for mois- 
ture. There is another point in which many 
tree-planters err. They dig a hole deep in the 
ground, thrust in the tree, cover its roots deep 
with earth, and think they have done their part. 
Now, unless the soil is very dry and gravelly, 
the tree had better have been set on the top of 
the ground, or nearly so, and the roots covered 
with soil taken from another place. Trees 
should also be firmly staked." 

"How about firs, spruces, &c. ?" 

" Evergreens require a somewhat different 
treatment from the hard-wood trees. They are 
harder to live, and require more care in trans- 
planting. It should be done in early summer, 



Planting for Posterity. 85 

or when tlie buds arc swellin<;-. vSomc arc very 
sjcccssful in taking them up in the cold sea- 
son, when a large lump of frozen earth can be 
taken up with the roots. They should never 
be pruned, or at least their lower limbs should 
not be cut off, as it is their nature to grow low 
limbed when standing alone." 




86 



Farm Talk. 



XV. 




PARASITIC PLANTS. 

^^OOD morning." 

"•How d'ye do, Squire? Walk in; 
take a chair, and draw up to the 
fire." 

'' Pretty cold, ain't it?" 

" Yes ; ten degrees below zero is about cold 
enough. Do you suppose this cold snap will 
last long?"* 

••' No, I guess not; the wind is haulin' so'west- 
erly, and it's 'bout time for our January thaw." 
" Help yourself to an apple. Squire." 
" Sweet, ain't they? What do you call them?" 
"■ Talman Sweets. They are the best win- 
ter sweets I ever raised. Splendid for baking, 
and first rate to eat any way. I've just been 
examining this one with the scabby-looking spot 
on the side." 

"What do you make it out to be?" 
" It's a plant that grows on the apple." 



Parasitic Plants. 87 

"A plant! Why, how does it grow there?" 
" Like other plants ; only it derives its nour- 
ishment from the apple instead of the soil. 
Such plants belong to the lowest orders of the 
vegetable world, and are called parasites^ which 
means a kind of plants which grow on and from 
other plants, to which they attach themselves, 
and whose juices they absorb." 

" How do they get there in the first place ? " 
" These parasitic plants are propagated by 
means of organs called spores^ which correspond 
to the seeds of other plants. When this para- 
site obtains its growth, it is covered with these 
spores, which are so minute as not to be readily 
discernible by the unassisted eye, but which are 
plainly shown under the microscope. They are 
scattered abroad by the wind and other agen- 
cies, and when one of them effects a lodgment 
on some plant which is adapted to its growth, 
it immediately takes root and flourishes if sur- 
roimding circumstances are favorable." 

" I should think it would injure the plant or 
fruit on which it grows, as you say it sucks 
out the sap or juice for food to live on." 

" Certainly it does. Look at this apple. 



88 Farm Talk. 

Don't you see tl ere is a depression, or hollow 
on the side where the parasite is situated. This 
is caused by the parasitical plant dri;..king 
up and appropriating the juice or nourishment 
which should have formed the flesh of the ap- 
ple. Some of these parasites appear only as 
minute spots, no larger than a pin-head ; others 
are as large as a dime, and others still covering 
a quarter, or perhaps a whole side of an apple, 
producing a gnarled and withered appearance." 

" Are these parasites found on all kinds of 
plants?" 

" Probably every species of plant has its par- 
asite, which is, or may be present when the 
plant is in a condition to sustain it. I do not 
suppose a perfectly healthy plant would be thus 
affected, but the presence of a parasitic growth 
is evidence of disease and degeneracy." 

" Are large plants, like trees, troubled the 
same way ? " 

" Yes. For instance, the common cherry and 
plum tree is affected with a parasitic disease, 
popularly known as the black-kizot.^^ 

"Why is that a parasitic plant? I always 
thought worms caused the black-knot." 



Parasitic Plants, 89 

"No. It is a parasite, which scientific ircii call 
sphceria morbosa. It is propagated by H^^res, 
as I described to you before, and has proved 
very destructive to the plum and cherry through- 
out the country." 

'' What time of the year do you calc'late the 
seeds spread that make the plant?" 

"In late summer or autumn, or when the 
plant has arrived at maturity. During autumn, 
or perhaps winter, the spores of the parasite 
are free, perhaps floating in the air; they lodge 
in, or rather on, a branch or twig of a tree, which 
is 'in a suitable condition for retaining and nour- 
ishing the plant. There they remain, embedded 
in some minute crevice in the bark, until spring, 
when the warmth germinates the spore, which, 
swelling, causes a slight irritation in the bark, 
and the plant roots and grows. As it grows, 
it appropriates a portion of the sap which is 
circulating in the twig or limb to its own use, 
and spreading out its roots, changes the growth 
to a mass of spongy texture, swelling, bursting 
the bark, and continuing to enlarge, until all the 
sap in the limb is required to support the para- 
site, when the extremity of the twig withers and 



go Farm Talk. 

dies. It is now, perhaps, midsummer, and the 
parasite, or as some call it, wart, excrescence, 
or black-knot, is of a greenish color on the out- 
side, and it has become the habitation of nu- 
merous ' worms ' or larvae of several species of 
insects, which have found its soft, spongy body 
a fine place for breeding purposes. Hence 
arose the idea that the knot was caused by 
insects. The plant has now nearly got its 
growth, and the outside of the knot begins to 
turn brown, and by and by, at early autumn, 
is black, and covered with the spores of the per- 
fectly developed plant. It is fully ripe, and 
ready for entering upon the great life labor of 
all animate things — the perpetuation of its 
kind. It is now coal-black, and the spores may 
be seen under a microscope. They are very 
minute, ripe, and ready for distribution." 

"Ain't there any cure for the black-knot?" 

" None as yet known and practised. It could 
be prevented, but it is hardly probable it ever 
will." 

"How could it be prevented?" 

" By destroying the plants or parasites before 
they ripen or go to seed and fully develop theii 



Parasitic Plants. oi 

spores. If the affected twigs and limbs were 
cut off and burned in early summer, while the 
parasite was yet growing, they would be de- 
stro3ed for good, and so much done towards 
* heading it off,' or preventing its further spread. 
But such a course, to be effectual and prac- 
ticable, would require to be thoroughly per- 
formed throughout a whole section of a country. 
It is useless for one person to try to save his 
trees while his neighbor's garden is full of trees 
burdened with the unsightly knots from which 
the spores may be scattered by every passing 
breeze." 




92 Farm Talk, 




XVI. 

ROAD-MAKING AND BREAKING. 

HO d'ye s'pose they've put in road 
surveyor this year?" 

^' Can't guess. Hope it's somebody 
who knows enough to turn a straight 
furrow. Who is it?" 
" Same as last year." 
"Is that so"? 

" Yes. I guess they're going to make a life 
member of him." • 

" Well, if they are, I hope they'll keep him 
on the superannuated list." 

" I don't see what the selectmen are think- 
ing about. Here's our roads been goin' from 
bad to worse for the last three years. It's time 
we had a surveyor that knew something about 
making a road." 

" Perhaps he'll do better this year." 
" Better ! Why, he thinks he'b the greatest 
road-builder ' out.' Look at that piece of road 



Road-makmg and Breaking, 93 

on the flat down below my house. lie went 
and ploughed the chimes off last year, and 
scraped the dirt into the middle, leaving the 
road so narrow it's almost impossible for two 
loaded teams to meet and pass each other with- 
out running into the ditch or tipping over. If 
it had been a rocky, hard place, there might 
have been some excuse ; but there was plenty 
of room to plough, and enough dirt outside of 
the old ditch, — and conscience knows the road 
was narrow enough before, — but he must plough 
off the chimes, and make it narrower still." 
" I've noticed that piece of road." 
" Then there's the top of the ' brook' hill ; — 
he went and thro wed it up last fall, making 
the hill at least a foot and a half higher, — as if 
it wasn't hard enough to haul up before, — in- 
stead of ploughing and scraping it off, and thus 
making the hill a little lower and easier every 
year." 

" That's a common fault with our road-build- 
ers and repairers. There are mary small hills 
and elevations, or ' rises ' in the roads, which, if 
ploughed and scraped down into the hollows — 
a little being done each year — would soon be 



94 Farm Talk, 

on a level, and the road become gradually 
gradei . But ignorant surveyors plough and 
throw up on these elevations just the same as 
they do on the lower parts of the road ; and, 
worst of all, they cannot be made to believe 
but their ' way ' is best." 

" A main travelled road should always be 
wide enough for loaded teams to meet and pass 
each other without any danger of running the 
off wheel into the gutter or of tipping over. Of 
course it isn't expected cross roads, and those 
but little travelled, should be made so wide." 

" There is another thing in which our sur-* | 
veyors are very negligent, which is, in seeing 
that the main roads are properly broken out in 
tlie winter, after heavy snow storms." 

" That's a fact. See how our surveyor broke 
out our road last winter ! He put on a single 
ox-sled, thus making the road just wide enough 
for one team and no more. On the plains, 
where it was drifted badly for half a mile, he 
shovelled a regular canal the whole length, just 
as wide as one ox-sled, and only two or three 
places for teams to meet and turn out in the 
whole distance. It's disagreeable, especially in 



Road-mah'ng and Breaking. 95 

a cold day, to have to wait five or ten minutes 
ibr a team to come up before you can drive on ; 
and worse than that, every time there came a 
light snow storm it would drift in full, or nearly 
so, and have to be shovelled out again." 

" That's no way to break roads. The great 
point is always to keep on top of the snow, and 
make the track wide. It should be trod and 
broken down under foot instead of shovelled out, 
in all cases where a team can be got through. 
Then it will not cost so much to keep the roads 
in order during the winter season, for they will 
not drift full every storm, but most of the snow 
will blow over." 

*' Nothing like a good, large, old-fashioned 
triangle, with a big team of oxen hitched on to 
it, to break out roads with. Haul it twice over 
a road, no matter how heavy the storm was, 
and it will crush down the snow solid, and leave 
a track wide enough to let teams meet and pass 
almost anywhere, without getting the horses or 
oxen floundered in the snow." 

" Yes, that's the best method I have ever 
seen employed. It's one of those ol 1-fashioned 



96 



Farm Talk. 



vva3'S of doing things wliich is prefcrablo to 
modern methotls." 

" There's only one thing about it. If our 
roads ain't kept in better condition for travel- 
ling this winter than they were last, I shall 
complain on 'em." 




In the Ba7'n. 97 




XVII. 

IN THE BARN. 

EED your cattle pretty often, don't 



" Five times a day." 
"Hay every time?" 

" No : hay in the morning as soon as I am 
up, then give part of them roots or grain after 
breakfast, then w^ater, and leave most of them 
out in the yard if the w^eather is fair. Feed 
them all at noon with coarse fodder, if I have 
it ; if not, give them poor hay. Water, stable, 
and feed them again at sunset, and a light fod- 
dering before I go to bed." 

"Feed your sheep and horses the same?" 

" No. Three times a day is sufficient for 
them, unless you are working the horses hard, 
then they should be fed more." 

"Water 'em all twice a day?" 

" Yes. I consider plenty of good water es- 
sential to the health and well-being of all kinds 

1 



98 Farm Talk, 

of farm stock, and no farm-yard slionld be 
without it." 

*' Well, I know it's handy to have a plenty 
of water for stock, but some farmers never give 
their sheep any, and say they do first rate." 

" I know some pretend to say sheep need 
nothing to drink in the winter, but I don't be- 
lieve any such doctrine. I know sheep will not 
drink so much water, accordingly, as other ani- 
mals, but I think it's best to have it where they 
can get it handy, at least once a day, if they 
arc so inclined." 

" Mine cat a good deal of snow." 

*•• Got any lambs yet?" 

"Jest beginnin' to come along. I find it's 
'bout as much as I want to do to take care of 
'em this cold weather." 

" Now is the time sheep and lambs require 
sjDecial care." 

" What do you do with 'em when they're 
chilled?" 

'* Take them near a warm fire, and wrap 
them dry and warm. A good many lambs are 
lost for lack of a little attention at the right 
time." 



In the Barn. 99 

" Ever feed any cow's milk to 'cm when the 
dam don't give enough, or won't own 'em?" 

" Always ; and save many that way. It 
should be given warm, by means of a false teat. 
Use new milch cow's milk, if possible ; but if 
you have only farrow cow's milk, it will an- 
swer, if sweetened. I remember once, years 
ago, of bringing up a pair of twins, which the 
mother wouldn't own, wholly on cow's milk, 
by suckling them regularly on the cow. They 
grew and throve well, but it was costly, and a 
efood deal of trouble. If a lamb lives to be 
four days old, and sucks well, there isn't much 
danger but they will do well." 

"What kind of grain is best for sheep?" 

" I like oats best, though beans are first rate." 

"What do you think about raising twins, any- 
how?" 

" I think it don't pay, unless the dam is large, 
and has an extra flow of milk. One lamb is 
enough for a sheep." 

"Got your fodder all fed out?" 

" Nearly. There's a hundred or two more 
of fodder corn, which I keep for baitings. Did 
you raise any of it last year?" 



loo Farm Talk. 

"No. Cattle like it?" 

" First rate. Mine eat it up, leaf and stalk, 
and look for more. With a little pains, a 
farmer could raise a big pile on an acre." 

"How did you plant yours?" 

" In drills, pretty thick." 

" Southern corn, I s'pose?" 

"Yes; or rather western — the large 'horse- 
tooth ' variety. I turned over a piece of green- 
sward after I had got done planting, har- 
rowed, drilled, putting a little manure in the 
drill, dropped and covered the corn, giving it a 
light top-dressing with plaster as it broke through 
the ground, cultivated it once, and raised a 
fine crop." 

" How did you save yours? Some find it 
hard to keep it from hurting." 

" Yes, I know it ; and it requires some care, 
the stalks are so succulent and full of juice. I 
cut mine up, let it wilt thoroughly, tied it in 
small bundles, hauled it into the barn, letting it 
lie on the rack over one night to sweat a little, 
then hung it on poles In the top of the barn, and 
it cured nicely." 

"Feed out any potatoes this winter?" 



In the Bar 71. loi 

" A few ; just enough to keep the stock 
' loose,' and to counteract the dry hay. A mess 
of potatoes twice a week is enough. When 
potatoes will bring fifty cents a bushel in mar- 
ket, and corn meal can be bought for a dollar, 
or thereabouts, I'd rather feed the corn ; — meal 
for the cattle, and corn for the horses, and a 
little to the sheep." 

"Use bows to tie your cattle with?" 
" Part of them, and some chains." 
"What do you think of slip stanchions?" 
" Don't like, 'em. They are too rigid ; don't 
give the cattle chance to move and rest or stand 
easy. After all, there's nothing better or surer 
than the old-fashioned bows. A set of good, 
strong, easy-working bows and wreathings is 
safe, easy for the animal, and permanent. Ropes 
are unhandy to tie, chains will unfasten some- 
times, and slip stanchions are hard for the 
cattle." 

" How do you like your new shed over the 
manure pile ? S'pose 'twill pay ? " 

" I like it well. It helps keep the stable 
warmer, and the manure does not fill full of 
snow in winter, nor leak away with the spring 



ro2 Farm Talk. 

rains. I think, too, it's a good deal stronger 
when pnt on the land. Besides, I have more 
of it ; it don't blow nor wash away, and the 
cart-loads of muck which I put at the bottom 
of the pile in the fall come out the next spring 
as good manure as the rest of the pile." 

" My calves are getting lousy. What would 
you do to kill 'em without hurting the calves?" 

" Take some clean soil, dry it thoroughly, 
pulverize fine, and rub it into their hair ; or 
rub in some grease, or lard, or whale oil ; most 
any kind of oil is death to lice. Kerosene is 
apt to hurt the calves, so is tobacco ; and lime 
or ashes, as some use, is sure to take the hair 
off." 

"Is them two-year olds of yours broke?" 

" Yes ; the boys always handle all the steers 
when they are yearlings, and by the time they 
are three-year olds they are thoroughly broken, 
and drive like old oxen. That's the way to do 
it ; not wait till they get their strength and 
growth, when it takes a strong man to do any- 
thing with them, and they are more likely to 
be cross too." 

"Cows come in yet?" 



In the Barn. 



103 



" Only one ; expect another to calve soon." 

" Goin' to raise 'em?" 

••' Certainly. Always raise the early ciilves. 
They are worth more to keep for any purpose." 

"Give 'em all the milk of the cow?" 

" No. Take them from the cow after they 
clean the bag thoroughly ; give them some new 
warm milk for a few clays, and gradually change 
them on to skim milk and meal, fed in a trough. 
Once learn them to drink, and they will do 
well, if you give them enough to eat. An 
ea \y calf virill begin to eat hay by the time 
it s four weeks old." 




I04 



Farm Talk, 



XVIII. 



HOW TREES GROW. 




SEE, neighbor, you have cut down 
the old apple tree that stood before 
your door so many years." 

" Yes. I told the boys this morn- 
ing they might cut it down for fire-wood. It 
was long since past bearing fruit, there being 
only one live limb on it, and I've been threat- 
ening to cut it down the last three years ; but 
somehow I didn't like to destroy it, for mem- 
ory's sake." 

"How old was that tree?" 
" I don't know for a certaint}^ ; but it was 
nigh on to fifty years old. I made it out to be 
forty, but it was so rotten at the heart I couldn't 
exactly tell." 

" Some say they can tell just how old a tree 
is. They cut a mast over in Tunk the other 
day, that they said was a hundred years old." 
" O, yes, it's easy telling how old a tree is, 



Hozu Trees Grow. 105 

because it makes a layer of wood on the out- 
side next the bark every year that it grows, and 
so by counting the layers from the heart to the 
bark; you can find out its age. The sap or food 
that the tree lives on comes from the ground, 
passes up through the roots and trunk or wood 
of the tree to the leaves, where, by coming in 
contact with the air, it undergoes certain changes, 
which makes it fit to form wood of; it then goes 
back down the tree, principally between the 
bark and wood, and as it passes along, it slowly 
hardens, and forms the annual thickness of wood. 
You know the pine 'sliver' that the boys like 
so well in the spring ; well, that is the sap or 
wood-making substance just returning down the 
outside of the tree, and in a few weeks it hard- 
ens, and forms the yearly ring." 

" Yes, I understand ; and I suppose that's 
what makes the top or ends of the limbs grow 
the fastest. When you graft a limb, does the 
sap act just the same?" 

'' Yes ; the sap passes up through the scion 
to the bud or leaf, and then back or down, and 
if the sliver or bark is nicely joined to that of 
the stock, the sap continues its course, and the 



io6 Farm Talk. 

graft will live. But if the stock pinches the 
scion, it will crush the pores of the wood, and 
the graft won'* ' take ' and live, neither will it 
unless the bark joins." 

"I don't believe in grafting large limbs — do 
you ? " 

" No, I do not. Here's a good example of 
its bad effects in the tree I cut down this morn- 
ing. It was grafted about eight years ago, and 
some of the limbs were cut off where they were 
four inches through, none of them being less 
than two inches in diameter. To be sure the 
scions lived, but the wounds never wholly healed, 
the bark on the upper part of the limbs peeled 
off, and the tree decayed gradually." 

" What do you calc'late makes the bark die 
on one side of the limb and not on the other? 
I've noticed it in a good ma}^ trees in my or- 
chard." 

" It is never so only when large limbs are 
grafted. Cut off and graft small limbs, and no 
portion of the bark is ever injured. The cause 
of the bark dying so, fs, that there is not a suf- 
ficient number of boughs on the graft to make, 
or rather prepare, sufficient sap or food to form 



Hozu Trees Grow. 107 

a layer of wood over the whole limb ; and again, 
as the leaves are the lungs of the tree, there 
was not enough of them to draw up sufficient 
sap through the wood for the full support of 
the limb, hence some portion of the bark had 
to wither and die for lack of nourishment ; and 
the reason why it is the upper side, is because 
of the influence of the sun on that portion." 

" But how does the sap get started in the 
first place?" 

" That is a question which vegetable phys- 
iologists are not yet decided upon. One of the 
most reasonable theories advanced is, that the 
warmth of the sun's rays in the spring causes 
a swelling, or irritation, creating a vacuum in 
the bud, which results in setting in operation 
the powers of capillary attraction." 

" I noticed, when I was cutting fire-wood in 
the woods the other day, when that warm spell 
was, that the sap had started considerably in 
the beeches, maples, and birches." 

" So did I ; and you remember the wind sud- 
denly changed, and it grev/ very cold before 
the next morning. That's what's bad for apple 
trees, — having a warm spell, just enough to 



io8 Farm Talk. 

start the sap, and then a sudden change to 
severe cold. It was that which killed so many 
orchards in the year of 1856 and ^'^^-^ 
"Got your summer's wood most cut?" 
" Nearly. I shall get up a cord or so more, 
and then there will be enough to last me till 
next January." 

" Nothing like having plenty of fire-wood on 
hand." 

" That's so ! There's Smith, has to get up 
in the morning in haying time, and cut wood 
to o-et breakfast with. A farmer never can 
get along that way. He ought to get all such 
things done up during the winter and spring, 
when he is not driven with labor, so that in the 
farming season he can be all ready for work." 
"Cutting your second growth clean?" 
" No. I cull out the poorest, and where it 
is the thickest, taking a piece each year, so that 
part I first commenced on is now the largest 
and handsomest in the lot." 



Pigs and Poultry, 109 




XIX. 

PIGS AND POULTRY. 

HAT you getting out timber fo. ? go- 
in' to building this spring?" 

" I think of putting up a building 
for a hog-pen and hen-house, if I can 
get time before planting. Shall build it ten 
feet posts, and use the lower floor for the pigs, 
and the upper part for a hennery. What do 
you think of the plan?" 

" Seems to me you're taking a good deal of 
pains for the hens; Mine stay in the barn." 

" I don't like to have hens round all over the 
buildings, especially in the w^inter time, when 
they waste about as much hay as they arc worth. 
And they want a warm place and good feed, 
with enough of it, else it don't pay to keep 'eiii." 
" Does it pay anyhow ? " 

" Yes. I have proved to my satisfaction that 
it pays well to keep a small lot, say twenty- 
live, for the eggs they produce. With eggs at 



no Farm Talk, 

a quarter of a dollar a dozen, as they have been 
the past year, it don't take a great while for 
that numbe/- of hens to bring in a ten-dollar 
greenback. It isn't a great deal of labor to care 
for them, and in the summer time they will 
pick up more than half of their living." 

" Yes, and scratch up the garden into the 
bargain." 

" It's easy enough keeping them shut up a 
week or so in planting time." 

" What breed are yours? some of the fancy 
kinds?" 

'' They are no particular breed, but are such 
as we have kept on the farm for years. They 
are medium-sized fowls, yellow-legged and flesh, 
hardy, and good layers. It has been our cus- 
tom to change the cock about once in three 
years, getting one from another flock, and some 
pullets are grown every y-ear to replenish the 
number, as we never keep a hen after she is 
over two years old." 

"Do yours lay all winter?" 

" No. We generally give them a resting spell 
of six weeks or two months in November and 
December, and they do all the better for it the 
rest of the year." 



Pigs and Poidlry, iii 

" Somehow I never could make my hens lay 
of any account in the winter. I feed 'em all 
the grain they want, but the eggs don't come." 

'' Hens require something besides grain to 
make them lay well in the cold season, and 
when the ground is covered with snow. In the 
first place, they must have material for making 
the shell; grain does not furnish enough, and 
their eggs are soft-shelled. Give them burned 
clam or oyster shells, or old plaster, or any- 
thing that contains lime, and the egg-shells will 
be all right. Then again they should alwa3^s 
be provided with a large box of clean, dry sand 
and gravel, with a few wood ashes to dust in, 
for killing and preventing the lice from injuring 
them. The gravel is also necessary for keep- 
ing their digestive apparatus in order." 

*' I know it's queer how much gravel a hen 
will eat. Their gizzards are full of it." 

" Another point. In winter, hens must be fed 
occasionally with some kind of meat, or animal 
food, in addition to their grain. There is noth- 
ing better than the crumbs and bits from the 
table. In the warm weather they will provide 
themselves with this sort of food, and they thus 



112 Farm Talk. 

destroy and devour large quantities of insects 
in the fielas and gardens." 

" Shall you have your hens roost in the 
room you are fixing up for them?" 

" Yes. I shall put in some poles on one side, 
and also save the droppings, which makes the 
very best kind of manure, you know. I want 
this room for them particularly in cold weather ; 
when it comes warm, let them run out. Shall 
jDut in a large double window on the south 
side, so they may have sun in the cold days. 
Light and warmth is what they want." 

"Got any pigs yet?" 

" One litter ; expect another in a few days." 

" Pigs have been pretty high for the last 
two years." 

" Well, yes ; five dollars apiece is a pretty 
big price to pay for a pig four weeks old." 

"How many have you got?" 

" Eight. One died, and the sow killed one." 

" What do you do to the sows when they 
begin to kill their pigs?" 

" Get them drunk as soon as possible, and 
then there isn't any more danger. They seem 
to forget their cannibal propensities after they 



Pigs and Poult7'y. 113 

get over their drunk. Give them a pint of rum 
or whiskey, or a quart of hard cider. If they 
won't drink it readily, mix it in their meal, and 
it will answer the same purpose. That's the 
only sensible use I ever saw rum or whiskey 
put to." 

" Some sows are apt to lay on their pigs 
and kill 'em." 

" That's sometimes the case with large sows. 
To prevent it, place some poles around tlic pen, 
about a foot from the floor, and the same dis- 
tance from the wall. That gives the pigs a 
chance to keep clear of getting crushed when 
the sow lies down." 

" Going to have wooden floors in your hog- 
pen?" 

" Yes ; plank. I believe in keeping hogs dry 
and clean, or at least their sleeping-places. I 
like to have them get to the ground, and always 
have a yard adjoining the pen, where they can 
run in and out at pleasure during the warm 
wxather. You can also make several cart-loads 
of the very best kind of manure, if you keep 
the yard and pen supplied with muck, brakes, 
straw, and other vegetable rubbish." 
8 



114 Farm Talk. 

" 'Twont pay to keep many pigs with corn 
at a dollar and fifty cents a bushel." 

" That's a fact. Neitlier will it pay to throw 
away the waste milk of three or four cows for 
want of pigs to change it into pork. Whether 
it will pay to do such and such a thing depends 
so much upon circumstances that it's difficult 
to decide in all cases." 




\ 



Farm Fences, 



"5 



XX. 



FARM FENCES. 




HIS question of fence or no fence is 
becoming a matter of serious discus- 
sion among the farmers of our coun- 
try. Where land is divided up into 
small farms, as with us, the cost of building and 
maintaining fences amounts, in the aggregate, 
to an enormous sum. In fact, it has become 
one of the largest items in the small farmer's 
bill of expenditures. Now, is all this outlay 
necessary? We think not. We have no reason 
to doubt but that at least half of the farm fences 
in this country could be dispensed with, and a 
large portion of them need never have been 
built. This fence-building illustrates one of the 
natural tendencies of the age. Wc arc far too 
exclusive as a people, and as a class of peoples. 
We fence round about, and hedge ourselves in, 
not only in so far as land is concerned, but also 
in our social relations and our lives. We fence 



ii6 Farm Talk, 

our farms from the roads, and our houses from 
the streets ; fence our fields across and through, 
into squares, triangles, and angles which do 
not admit of a name, and all without adding 
any real value or convenience. Our road-side 
fences, built huge and high, seem to say, "Thus 
far, and no farther ; " and all our out-door farm 
fixtures and appointments seem to wear an air 
of privacy and exclusiveness, strongly in con- 
trast with the farmsteads of other lands. Of 
course, a certain amount of farm fence is abso- 
lutely necessary, as around pastures for stock, 
and generally on boundary lines ; but further 
than this they may be dispensed with, and their 
cost applied to some other purpose. Let it 
once become the custom for each farmer to 
fence only to confine his own stock, and not 
against his neighbors ; and let every state en- 
act laws against cattle running at large ; then 
only pasture fences will be needed. The object 
in fencing should be to keep stock in, rather 
than to keep it out. ^ 

" Getting out fencing stuff ? " 

" Yes. I'm going to try some more of the 
stake and wire sort." 



Farm Fences, 117 

" What I've seen of it seems to stand well." 

" Mine does that I built last spring. I think 
it's the best kind of fence you can find for clay 
soils and low lands, where the frost heaves bad. 
If the stakes are h )ve out, you can easily go 
over it every spring, and drive them down 
again." 

"How did you build yours?" 

" I used a crowbar to make the holes, then 
drove in the stakes and wired the tops. I set 
mine a foot apart, making sixteen stakes to the 
rod. Old growth cedar, split, makes the best 
stakes ; the saplings rot down in a few 3'ears. 
I shave the tops off smaller, so it won't take so 
much wire to go round them." 

" Makes a cheap fence — don't it? What did 
yours cost a rod?" 

" I can get stakes at a cent apiece ; sixteen 
to a rod would be sixteen cents, and the wire 
would be about sixteen cents more, making 
two shillings a rod cost for materials ; — the 
cheapest kind of fence, at that rate, that can 
be built." 

"Nothing like stone wall to last." 

" Yes. And no doubt on rocky farms, and 



ii8 Farm Talk. 

where the material is handy, it is the best and 
cheapest in the end. A stone wall, well built, 
of the proper shaped stones, will stand a good 
many years on upland and dry soils; but it's 
no use to build it on clay soils, for it will tum- 
ble down, and have to be laid up over again 
every two years. Cedar is the material for 
fence on such land." 

"What do you think of posts and rails?" 

" Make a first rate fence, even on clay ground, 
if the posts are set in good cedar feet. Pitch- 
pole fence ain't of much account, and pickets, 
with iron posts, are not lasting. Board fence don't 
stand well, but answers pretty well, after all." 

" Wall ain't fit to stop sheep." 

" No. Board fence is best for a sheep pas- 
ture, and if you have a wall, it must be well 
top-poled. How much do you calculate it costs 
you annually to keep your fences in repair, 
and build such new ones as you think are 
needed ? " 

" Couldn't tell ; pretty big sum though, I 
guess, come to reckon up all the time and 
labor." 

" Yes ; it's larger than we farmers have any 



Rami Fences. 119 

idea of, and it's iny opinion vvc lay out .alto- 
gether too much in fence-building. I believe 
we could get along just as well with half as 
niany. They are not only a great cost, but in 
many cases they are an inconvenience. Take, 
for instance, our fields where we do most of our 
farming. Nine out of ten of them are cut up 
by fences into lots, varying from one to ten or 
more acres. Did you ever notice how un- 
handy it is to work in a two-acre field, or any 
small field, bounded on all sides by a fence? 
It causes a great loss of time at the headlands 
in ploughing, furrowing, or whatever is being 
done, which would not be so if the fence was not 
there. Then again, there is the loss of the land 
on which the fence stands, and "a strip along 
the side, which, do the best you can, will grow 
up to weeds and small bushes. It's about as 
bad after the field is seeded to grass. It takes 
longer to cut the hay in an acre field fenced, 
than it would to cut an acre taken from a large 
tract unfenced." 

" You've always got to have good fences 
round the pastures, to keep the stock in." 



I20 Farm Talk. 

" Certainly ; and that's the only place where 
a fence is absolutely necessary." 

"What would you do about the roads?" 

" A fence is not absolutely necessary even 
there, if the pastures are well fenced, and every 
man is obliged to take care of his own animals, 
or pay fully for what they destroy. I have seen 
here whole farms, bordering on the main road, 
without a rod of fence to protect the fields and 
crops from passers by ; and growing and ripen- 
ing crops planted up even with the roadside, 
and nothing injured or harmed. In fact this is 
becoming a general practice in many sections 
where fencing material is scarce, and I hope 
the system will be followed. In the old coun- 
tries, v^here every foot of land is required for 
some purpose, and is valued accordingly, there 
are no fences ; the fields are ploughed up even 
with the roadsides, and crops are cultivated by 
the sides of the walks, and nothing is harmed 
or destroyed, either by man or beast. It is the 
custom. They are protected by the laws, and 
the crops are safe." 

" We ain't so hard on it for land in this 



Fa rm Fen ccs. 121 

coiintiy, and I guess such a way of doiiiL^ things 
woulchi't work very well here." 

" I know that one of the causes that have 
led to so much fence-building with us has been 
the abundance and cheapness of land ; but as 
the population becomes more dense, and the 
soil more generally occupied, land, particularly 
in the older settled portions, will become more 
valuable, and a general fence-destroying j^rac- 
tice will be adopted ; and I have no doubt but 
in twenty-five years, farmers in all parts of the 
country will dispense with, at least, one half 
of the present number of fences." 




122 



Farm Talk, 



XXI. 



OUT IN THE FIELDS. 




HE Sabbath is peculiarly the farm- 
er's clay of rest and recuperation from 
the severe labors and strain upon the 
physical system during the week, and 
particularly in the growing season, or from the 
time he places the first seed in the bosom of 
•old mother earth until its yield has been put 
away for safe-keeping in his cellar or granary. 
Spring, summer, and autumn are seasons of 
protracted toil and continual care, which is only 
partially relieved by the winter's cessation from 
active duties, and the seventh day is to him a 
welcome day of rest. But few farmers, com- 
paratively, are so situated as to be able to avail 
themselves of religious privileges, so far as re- 
lates to attending regular public services. His 
home duties require attention, which must be 
given upon all days. His chores must be done, 
his stock cared for, and his growing and ripen- 



Out in the Fields. 123 

irg crops carefiillv watcluHl, lest In an liour lie 
should lose the result of many a hard day's 
labor. But he is not entirel}' wanting in re- 
ligious privileges and advantages. The very 
nature of his occupation is ennobling, and pro- 
vocative of thought and feeling w^hich acknowl- 
edges the presence of a superior power. The 
various operations of nature continually going 
on before him — the springing of the seed, the 
flowering season, and the ripening and decay — 
all tend to suggest thoughts as to the why and 
the wherefore, which can only admit of one 
answer. If he does not read sermons in stones, 
he does see and acknowledge an infinity in 
everything. He can never be an atheist. 

To mc there is nothing in nature so beauti- 
ful as a clear, calm Sabbath summer morning 
in the country. The quietude and stillness in 
the very air, so different from the bustling sound 
of the week-day ; the absence of noise and com- 
motion about the farm-house ; and then, when 
the church bells of the distant villagfes sound 
out softly upon the odorous air, a sense of peace, 
and secur ty, and of a superior Presence, seems 
to fill and pervade all things. It is such morn- 



124 Farm Talk. 

lugs ys these that the farmer thorouglily enjoys. 
He has perfonried his various out-cloor duties, 
looked over his weekly papers, and, a neighbor 
coming in, they stroll out into the fields. Let 
us go with them, and if their conversation is 
of matters pertaining to what is before them, 
and the scenes of their week-day labors, we 
think it may be none the less acceptable to 
Him wlio hath made these thingfs for their use. 
'' First-rate corn weather, ain't it?" 
^' Splendid ! Seems as if I can almost see 
uiine grow^, it pushes so fast." 
'' Yours all in silk?'' 
" Yes ; and has been for a week." 
"Going through it agin with the hoe?" 
" No ; but shall go over the field, and pull out 
tlie weeds by hand, before they go to seed." 
"How do 3'ou get along haying?" 
" Pretty fair ; though the weather has been 
catching last week. I got some nice Engli \\\ 
wet in the shower." 

" Have you cut that field you top-dressed last 
spring? " 

"Yes; it's in the cock now. I've got it 
covered with hay caps, and shall let it sweat 



Out in the Fields. 125 

to-dnv, only throwing the caps ofl" in llic niiddle 
of tho day. I don't haul in hay Siniday, unless 
it looks like bad weather." 

"What do you think of top-dressing?" 

" Works well, what I've tried. I got at least 
a third more hay on that field than last year." 

"• S'pose 'twould pay to buy any of this pa- 
tent stufi" to put on an old worn-out grass held?" 

" Yes. That is, if you've raked and scraped 
everything possible in the shape of manure you 
can find on or near the farm. It won't pay for 
us to buy these artificial manures while we let 
our own run to waste. That would be like 
trying to fill a barrel at the spigot, while the 
bunghole was open." 

'' I believe I shall try some plaster next 
spring." 

"Ever used any on your farm?'* 

" Not much." 

" It will probably work first-rate then ; but 
after you use it a good many years, it don't 
amount to much. It's queer acting stuft' too. 
You can't depend upon it. Some years it does 
first-rate, and then the next vear it won't seem 
to be good for anything." 



126 Farm Talk, 

"How's your wheat doing?" 

" Looks well, so far." 

" Seen any worms in it yet?" 

" No. Last year mine escaped the midge 
entirely, and I have hopes it will this year again. 
'Twould pay pretty well again to raise it, if 
they would only let it alone." 

" How do you s'pose the}^ happened to let 
it alone last year?" 

'' I expect there are but few of them in the 
neighborhood. You know there hain't been five 
acres of wheat a year raised in this county for 
the ten years previous to the last, and so I sup- 
pose they have nearly been starved out." 

" I hope they'll stay starved out." 

" No such good news as that. There will 
probably be enough of them as soon as we get 
fairly at it raising wheat again." 

*•' Potatoes are getting a pretty good growth 
for the season. Seen any bugs on yours yet?" 

" No ; it isn't quite time for them to operate 
much yet." 

"Do you believe in hillin' 'em up so high?" 

" It depends somewhat upon the soil. If it 
is inclined to be wet, or water stands after show- 



Out in the Fields. 127 

ers, tbey should be planted on top of the ground 
and hilled up ; but if it is dry and sandy, fur- 
row deep, and keep the field nearly level." 

" I don't like the idea of hillin' corn higli 
when you hoe it the last time." 

" Nor I either, at any time. Corn roots like 
to run near the top of the ground, and will 
occupy about all the field when it gets full 
grown, if the ground is in such a shape that it 
can do so." 

" Plant your peas among your potatoes yet?" 

" Yes. I still stick to the old custom. I've 
tried every way, and I find it the best method 
to raise them. I know there is a good deal of 
talk about their injuring the potatoes, and there 
is some truth in it, if you plant them in the hill 
with them ; but I put mine between the hills, 
covering them with the coarse dirt or sods left 
in covering the potatoes. It's hardly any trouble 
to raise them so, and you get nice, large peas." 

"What kind do you raise?" 

" The Marrowfats. They are large, and sell 
well in market." 

" Some won't plant any beans or pumpkins 
with their corn, — say it hurts the corn crop." 



128 Farm Talk. 

''My opinion of this matter is, if your soil 
is ri'ch enough, a crop of beans and pumpkins 
may just as well be grown with the corn ; but 
if there is only goodness enough in the land to 
make a corn crop, the others had better be left 
out, though pumpkins do better with corn than 
anywhere else. Let's go over and look at my 
barley field." 

" Seed this down this year?'' 

" Yes ; that's one reason w4iy I sowed the 
field to barley, — so as to get a good catch." 

" Do you think there's much in that, after 
all?" 

" It's the old opinion, you know, that wheat 
or barley is best to seed down with." 

" Yes, I know ; but sometimes I've had my 
doubts about their being any better than oats. 
Sow oats thin, and fix the ground as well as for 
barley, and grass will catch well enough. The 
fact is, we think a nice piece of ground is too 
good for oats, and only sow them on the poor, 
rocky, rough fields, and then find fault about 
the grass seed not catching well. That's been 
my experience." 

" Tb.ere is something in that. There's an- 



Out in the Fields. 129 

other thing in favor of oats, — the fodder helps 
pay for their cost ; but barley and wheat straw 
is only fit for bedding. As to oats sapping the 
ground more than other grain, that's all hum- 
bug. Manure the oat field as well as you do 
for the others, and the land will be left in as 
good heart after the crop is taken ofi'." 

" I agree with you there." 

" Let's look over the wall into the Squire's 
cornfield that he manured in the new way they 
talked so much about last year." 

"New way! How was it?" 

" Putting on the manure in the fall. The 
way they operate is to plough, harrow, furrow, 
and dung it out in the fall, and cover the ma- 
nure just as if they had planted ; then when the 
next spring comes, they put in the corn with a 
planter the very first thing, without having to 
wait to prepare the soil for it." 

"Can get it in early — can't they?" 

" Yes ; that's one of the advantages claimed 
over the old way ; and another is, that the 
greater part of the labor can be done in the fall 
when farmers are not so driven with work as 
in planting time." 

9 



I30 Farm Talk. 

" The Squiie's com looks pretty fiiir." 
" I see it does. The field was in first-rate 
order for growing a crop. This system will 
operate pretty well on a field, level and gravelly, 
like this, but would you dare to try it on a ridge 
or hillside, or any inclined ground, that was in 
danger of washing bad by the spring rains?" 

" Be likely to find your dung down in the 
brook, I reckon, and rather hard finding out 
where the hills were on the piece, too." 

" That's where the danger is. One of my 
sowed fields washed so bad last spring that I 
had to plough it up and sow it over again. 
But there are many fields in which the method 
will work first rate." 

" Perhaps so ; tell better after trying it." 
"But it's most noon; go down and take 
dinner with me, will you?" 

" No, I thank you ; mine will be reridy when 
I get home. Good day." 



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